The Vitruvian Man
by TheOrangeTurtle
Summary: Waking up in the DC Universe was pretty cool, according to Daichi Akiyama. Having the cosmic beings hunt you down wasn't so cool. Guys like The Guardians of Oa, Highfather, Mongul and Darkseid are gunning for Daichi, and he doesn't know why, doesn't want to know either. Thankfully the Justice League, Teen Titans, and others are here to help. Daichi wouldn't survive otherwise.
1. One Hell of a Wake Up Call

**A/N 8/15/2020**

**Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? So, this chapter's already been posted,the other five will come along throughout the day, but when looking through the story I realized how many inconsistencies and grammar mistakes I've made, so I've decided to rewrite the story. **

**This overhaul for the most part, is me fixing grammar mistakes, inconsistencies, and adding to characters and new scenes. So, I'd recommend reading these six chapters again, it's what the story should've been from the start. **

**My X-Men story, **_**A Sinister Past, **_**is going through a similar overhaul, though it's more extensive for that story, more on that in the story itself. **

**Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**One Hell of a Wake-Up Call**

It's strange.

I remember going to sleep back home in Utah, the Fall semester of 2020 about to begin. But then I woke up, and now I'm not in my bed. No. Instead I'm in a tube in what looks to be an extremely high-tech lab. And that's not all, there's a man looking at me from the other side.

Strangely enough, he has Red-violet hair that's all over the place with a clean-shaven face. He has fair skin and purple eyes. I'd say he's over six-feet-tall and looks relatively muscular.

He wears black pants and a black coat that reaches down to below his knees, white, sharp designs along the zipper travel up from the waist to below the collar. The inside of the jacket looks to be white. He has a gauntlet on his left wrist, a hologram appears above it as he smiles once he notices I'm awake.

"Look at you, after centuries of looking for the right one I finally find him. From a different universe entirely, no less," the scientist exclaims.

I try to reply but realize I can't, I have a mask on my face, most likely to allow me to breath in my tank.

The scientist notices my attempt at conversation. "Oh, please, don't talk, you are not ready for that yet," he types on the computer in front of my tank in excitement. "Right, I am the Evolutionary, not to be confused with the _High _Evolutionary from those comic books you used to read."

A computer in the distance beeps, he goes to check it out. Looking around, I notice a lot of interesting things in this lab: the results of an x-ray, a copy of the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, and a body on a table, covered by a blanket. Pretty average stuff, all things considered.

Wait, body? Oh, this does not look good at all. Okay, okay, this can all be explained, right? Whose body is that?

I reach out to touch the glass of my tank to get a better look of the body, while doing this I notice something interesting: I have baby arms. I follow my arms and see the rest of my body... Yup, I'm a baby again. Yay. Wait, WAIT! If I'm in a baby's body, then who's body was that? Was that body mine? Great, now I'm feeling sick.

The Evolutionary returns with a disgruntled look on his face. "Those damned Green Lanterns, trying to control where I go. I am the Evolutionary! I control entire civilizations!"

Green Lanterns? Okay, so I'm not in the Marvel Universe, but instead the DC universe, or a form of it, at least. "Right, I should explain," the Evolutionary says as he takes deep breaths to calm down. "You lived in a different universe entirely, the origin point of everything, actually. But you, well, you were going nowhere, so I offered you a chance at a better life, and you accepted."

While he's saying this, a whole rush of memories come at me. He's right, I really wasn't going anywhere, so, one day, he offered me a chance to be greater. Now, it wasn't one of those offers I accepted right on the spot, I'm not _that_ stupid, instead he befriended me while we were in college. After a year of friendship, he finally made his offer, I agreed, and that's how we ended up here.

He goes to the body and uncovers it, yup, that's my old body all right. Let me tell you, it is weird to see your own corpse. I honestly don't know how to explain it thoroughly, I'm angry, sad, and disgusted, all at once. The Evolutionary throws it out the airlock like its trash. I just stare at him in shock.

"Come now, you didn't expect me to keep it, did you?" The Evolutionary says. "Now then, let's get your physical training started."

He presses some buttons on the console in front of my tank. I feel it drain, and after some time my feet touch the ground. I look down at my feet in shock. I've never felt this strong before. I lift my right arm up slowly. Holy hell, it's strange, but…that felt so fluid compared to my old body. What did he do to me?

"Let me explain what happened to you," the Evolutionary creates a hologram in front of me, comparing my old body and my new one. "After centuries of…experimentation, I've finally figured out how to evolve a human to their maximum potential. You see, humans, for some unknown reason, are both extremely adaptable, but also extremely resilient. After 110 subjects—you being 111—I've finally created the ultimate human!"

I look at the hologram and immediately understand everything on it, and he's right. I am strong. Superhuman physical capabilities on par with Kryptoinans, a whole bunch of vision powers like x-ray and heat vision, flight, telekinesis, telepathy, energy manipulation and redirection, and a regenerative healing factor. Man, I am powerful.

The Evolutionary looks over my details as well and sighs in satisfaction. "But of course, the only way to know if you really are the ultimate human is to test you. Let's begin..."

* * *

**15 Years Later**

The next fifteen years were far more intense than the nineteen in my previous life.

During the years, I quickly became accustomed to my new, superior body, moving at speeds I never thought possible, lifting things that would normally crush me if I were in my old body, and taking hits from creatures that could destroy skyscrapers.

I was also given a suit to keep up with my abilities.

I wear black boots that go up to my knees with orange soles and two orange circles on either side of the knees, the back of the knees are navy-blue. The pants are entirely black, I also have a navy-blue belt with an orange outline that stops just before it reaches the center.

The top half of the suit is primarily black, with two orange lines on each side of my abdomen. I have long sleeves that go halfway up my hands, holes for my thumbs to stick out of. I have two orange A's that look like upside down V's on each shoulder and a larger one in the center of my chest. The inside of my armpits, elbows, and palms of the suit are also navy-blue.

Currently, I'm on a planet that's nothing but natural disasters and apex predators. A perfect training ground, if I'm being honest.

Rolling to my left, I avoid the jaws of a creature similar to a T-Rex, getting up from my roll, I leap into the air and snap my leg out, kicking it into one of the smaller members of its pack.

From the sky comes two pterodactyl-like creatures. I fly between the two, spinning around as I do, heat vision carving into their sides. I then do a superhero landing on a bipedal creature with scale armor, crushing it into the ground.

Getting up, I look around to find no creature left to fight. Hm, disappointing.

Slow clapping begins, turning around I find the Evolutionary floating down. "Well done, Subject 111, very well done."

"Thank you, sir," I reply with a slight bow.

"Come, your training is done, it's time for you to go home," he says, turning around.

I freeze, he never called The Ship "home". "What do you mean "home"? Like, The Ship?" I cautiously ask.

"No. Earth," he corrects.

"Oh," I quietly float besides him, looking at him with a critical eye. "Why now? Is Apokolips attacking?"

"No. What did I say about questioning me? You are to go to this universe's version of Earth. That is that," he states.

The ramp to the cargo bay opens, a hard-light shield stopping everything from getting sucked into the vacuum. This is strange, of all times why now? For the first couple of years I would constantly annoy him by asking when we would return to Earth, he'd always say no, and then I'd be punished. Now we're just going.

"I said do not question it," the Evolutionary says as he turns around to give me an intense stare.

"Right, sorry," I say.

"Do not be sorry, you are above that. Just be better," he reminds me.

Throughout the years, the Evolutionary made sure to beat into my head that I was better than anyone else we came across. Not going to lie, I believe it in the physical sense, I mean, my physical capabilities are astonishing, and that's when you don't account for my other powers like energy manipulation and my healing factor. Walking towards my room I greet the many other people the Evolutionary picked up throughout his travels.

"Hey there, kid! How are ya?" A small, yellow furred, pitch black skinned alien with four arms greeted. His name's Zar, he comes from a species I really don't know much about, mainly due to the fact that they aren't like most of the galaxy, in fact, their society would be equivalent to human society during the industrial revolution. The only reason Zar was picked up was because of some genetic abnormality he has that attracted the attention of The Evolutionary.

I like Zar. During my training, the Evolutionary made sure everyone kept me at arm's length, but Zar didn't care. Safe to say he's my only friend on this ship.

"I'm good, Zar. Hey, do you know where we're heading?" I ask. Zar's face becomes sheepish. "Earth. So, you do know."

He looks surprised for a second before he becomes relieved. "Boss told us about it last night, no explanation, no preamble, he just said it. We were all surprised to be honest."

"That was it? He just said we were going to Earth?" I interrogate.

Zar just nods. The thing about asking Zar questions is that he has no tells, making this pretty annoying. The reason he was picked by The Evolutionary was because of his abnormality. Zar's abnormality is that he has unbelievably strong mental defenses, and no one knows where it comes from. The Evolutionary was able to copy it slightly, and insert it into my DNA, increasing my mental defenses.

"Strange. Well, he told me to stop questioning it, so I may as well," I say.

Zar just gives me a blank look. "Kid, when have you ever listened to the Evolutionary?" He asks.

My serious face breaks into a small smirk. "Got me there. Have we started the trip yet? And how long until we get there?"

Explosions rock the ship. Running to the nearby window, Zar and I look outside to see some members of the Sinestro Corps attacking the ship.

Growling, I hurry towards an airlock, after a moment it finally opens. Once I acclimatize to space, I fly towards the Sinestro Corps troops, flying fists first into one of them, his snake-like construct that's currently wrapped around the ship dissipates.

The other three turn away from the ship and fire beams of fear-fueled energy at the two of us, I quickly veer out of the way, leaving the first Sinestro Corps member to take the brunt of the attack.

A giant yellow fist appears and closes around me, causing slight pain to erupt from my ribs, the other two float towards me and fire shotgun blasts of energy at my face, disorienting me greatly and causing a headache to quickly form.

Using my speed, I vibrate my molecules, after taking a few more blasts to the face and getting crushed by the yellow hand, I eventually phase through the hand. Gotta work on improving that, maybe Flash can help. During my musing session, a yellow hammer swings into my head, causing me to flip over, I then notice a plane-like construct flying towards me, once it crashes into me, I find myself on a moon, feeling pain throughout my body.

Groggily getting up I rub my head, hoping to ease the headache quickly forming. The four of them fire a combined blast of fear-fueled energy at me, digging me into the moon a good distance.

Getting up again, I bend my knees, after building up some energy I explode forward, feeling the ground beneath me crater. I have one arm forward, another at my side, ready to punch the biggest of the group. I notice their shocked faces as I quickly rise out of the hole they made, before any of them can react, I bring my right arm forward and slam it into the face of the big one, he flies towards the nearby planet.

Two tendrils wrap around my arms and legs, immobilizing me, the third Sinestro Corps member creates a sword and has a large smile on her face as she thrusts the sword forward. It shatters against my skin. The three of them stare in shock. Concentrating, I build up the energy inside of my body shortly before bringing it outward in a powerful concussive explosion, throwing the three of them all over the place.

Focusing my energy into my fists, I fly fists first into one of the aliens, this is the same race as the Green Lanterns Tomar-Re and Tomar-Tu, Xudarian, I think they were called.

Using my energy enhanced fists, I punch him in the face, causing a part of his beak to chip off, followed by a punch to his gut, winding him. In the distance I can see the ship firing on the other two, keeping them away from me. The Xudarian grabs me by the neck and throws me away from him, while I'm flying through space, he launches a bull-like construct towards me, sending me towards his female teammate.

She creates something akin to a fly swatter and swats me down before focusing on the ship again.

The Xudarian follows me, sending rapid blasts towards me. Regaining my bearings, I quickly stop, the Xudarian flies by me before stopping as well. Turning around quickly, I charge up my heat vision, and before he can turn around, I fire the twin beams at him, sending him towards the same planet as his ally from earlier.

I turn around and see the remaining two now attacking The Ship. I launch myself towards the female, my leg bent at an angle to get a good snap kick in. Just before the kick can connect a yellow shield appears, she turns towards me and smirks in victory, but by doing this The Ship fires a perfect shot at her, sending her to the moon.

The remaining enemy roars before creating a multitude of constructs, aimed at me and The Ship. The Ship's energy shields quickly rise up, but due to the force of the constructs they eventually break, causing massive damage to the starboard side of The Ship. The constructs fired towards me are mostly blasted apart by my energy blasts or heat vision, what does get by is stopped by my personal energy shield.

Once the constructs dissipate, I uncross my arms from my defensive position to see him flying towards me, his arm reared back to punch me. Once he attempts his punch, I tilt my head to the right, I then grab his extended arm and drag him in, kneeing him in the gut. Keeping my grip on his arm I then spin around at high speeds, pretty sure I'd make a tornado if there was an atmosphere here, and let go, sending him towards the nearby planet.

That's not enough though, I follow after him with my fists extended and slam into his gut before backing up slightly, all so I can hit him with a barrage of punches as we enter the atmosphere.

Before I can hit him with one final punch, a yellow blur sideswipes me, launching the two of us into a mountain. Shaking my head, I look up to see the large alien standing over me, bearing its fangs and growling. It raises its fists and prepares to smash my head in. I roll to the left as its fists slam into the ground, I use my hands to hop up and do a backflip, kicking it in the head as I land. I then drop down and spin on my hand, extending my leg out to trip the alien, and before it can hit the ground, I punch the side of its head hard, launching it into the horizon.

Flying after it, I punch it downwards while in the air, it creates a large crater once it impacts with the ground. I fly down feet first and slam my feet into its chest, making the crater even larger. I then roll forward and grab it by the leg, I get up and spin around, actually creating a tornado this time, after a few seconds of spinning I let go, launching the large alien into the nearby mountain range.

A roar of rage comes from up above, looking up I see the female alien flying towards me, her fist reared back. Before I can react, a giant stone construct lands on me, embedding me into the floor. Before I can try to get a better position, I feel the power behind the rock get stronger and stronger, using my x-ray vision I see the large alien and the Xudarian adding their energy to the rock.

Vibrating, I sink into the ground, using my x-ray vision to see where I'm going. Good, looks like they still think I'm under the rock.

While they continue to dig the construct into the planet, I move underground to a fair distance away from them. Using this distance to my advantage, I get into a runner's position, I then burst up and take off, breaking the sound barrier instantly and creating a large crater where I was.

Before the three can react, I headbutt the female alien, and clothesline the other two, I then close my arms and bring the three of them in, bashing all of their heads together.

Standing over the three I quickly catch my breath. That was my first battle against Lanterns. I mean, I have fought Atrocitus, but that was before he became a Red Lantern, now I hear rumors that he is one, and I for one don't want to fight him with rage on his side, he was bad enough as is. And when it came to Green Lanterns, I just avoided them, mostly due to the fact that their relationship with The Evolutionary and anyone tied to him is difficult, at best.

"_Hey, kid, you still alive?" _Zar asks over the comms.

"Yes, Zar, I'm still alive," I begin to fly towards The Ship. "How are things with The Ship?"

"_Not good. The entire starboard side's a mess, about six of us are dead, another seven in critical condition,"_ Zar informs me.

"Holy- thirteen casualties!? That's over half the crew!" I drag my hand down my face. "I take it the trip to Earth's gonna be on hold, then?"

"_Subject 111, it is I," _the Evolutionary cuts into our conversation. _"Get back to the ship, we still need to get to Earth."_

"What? Sir, The Ship was attacked, we have thirteen casualties. And to top it all off the Sinestro Corps will be on us once they figure out what just happened. We need to tend to the injured then repair the ship first," I argue.

"_No. We go to Earth. Now,"_ he simply replies.

"I-"

"_111\. Now,"_ he simply says.

Bowing my head in defeat, I slowly rise off of the ground before flying towards the ship at high speed, after all, the faster we finish this the faster everyone can get help. Entering through the airlock, I see the remainder of the crew help the seriously injured to the med bay.

Zar quickly walks towards me once we make eye contact. "Hey kid," he sighs and looks around. "Hell of a day, right?"

"How much longer until we reach Earth?" I ask.

"Another day at least, and that's accounting for the damage to the ship," Zar answers.

"And the nearest ship repair station that won't refuse us?" I continue.

Zar sighs deeply. "It'd take a week from Earth to get there. Three days from here."

"Because you need to be on Earth as soon as possible. No exceptions," the Evolutionary says before I can even reply.

"Why?" I question.

He just looks at me with a hint of anger and annoyance in his eyes, I flinch in response. "You will know," he turns around and marches towards the bridge. "Activate the engines! We go to Earth now."

Zar and I just stare at his retreating form, wondering what was so urgent that we had to go to Earth now. Zar just pats me on the shoulder with his upper left arm before heading towards the engine room.

Standing alone in the hallway I just look down, contemplating the effects my battle with the four Sinestro Corps members will have. I mean, from the way things are sounding, the Sinestro Corps was only created about five years ago, but in that time Sinestro was able to recruit a massive number of people to his side, add to the fact that a war seems to be brewing between the Sinestro Corps and the Green Lantern Corps. Hope it won't be as bad as it was in the comics.

Sighing, I head towards my room, may as well pack my things up. The door slides open, inside I find the memories of the past fifteen years waiting for me. On my trophy shelf I see the head of a Manhunter unit I destroyed a year ago, a piece of a green scarab, the first tooth I ever lost, which happened two months ago when Mongul punched me, and a shard of kryptonite from when we passed by what was left of Krypton when I was six, or would it be when I was twenty-five? I'll stop counting my previous life, it'll be easier.

Laying down on my bed, I let out another loud sigh as I look up at the model galaxy on the ceiling of my room. The Sol system is highlighted, showing me that Earth is, in fact, our target destination. Why does he want to get to Earth so badly? Maybe we're being hunted down? Or there could be something extremely important there, almost everything important happens on Earth for some strange reason, be it DC or Marvel.

No use mulling over it I guess, may as well help the injured however I can.

I get into a seated position, look around, and then get up. Once the door slides open, I stop.

Instead of seeing the familiar hallway of The Ship I see the cold vacuum of space, in the distance I see The Ship's shrinking form. I blink in shock. What the hell?

I hear the sound of the holographic communication system activating. Turning around I see the Evolutionary standing with his arms behind his back. "What. The. Hell," I growl, my eyes glowing red and my hands begin to give off black and orange energy.

"They arrived far sooner than we expected. They're after you, Subject 111, this was the only way for you to escape safely," he says, explosions going off in the background.

"I'm coming to save you," I turn around and march towards the door.

Before I can even take a step, he says a phrase that I can't understand, no matter how hard I try to remember. This phrase causes my body to freeze up, and no matter how hard I try, I can't move. "No, what you are going to do is get out of here," he strongly says.

Using all of my strength, I barely reach out to open the door, only to see that The Ship is indeed under attack, and by ships I've only heard about in stories. "W-what the hell are they d-d-doing here?" I stutter out, my paralysis doing nothing to help.

***BOOM***

The explosion of noise travels through both the call and somehow space as well.

A giant Boom Tube opens above the ship, the smaller ships fire tethers towards The Evolutionary's ship, they then rise up into the Tube, forcing the transmission to cut out.

Well, that was my first experience with the New Gods, definitely didn't expect that.

I feel the paralysis slowly fade away, after some time it finally does, I shake my legs around to regain feeling in them. Looking outside I realize that there's nothing I can do.

I look at the mirror next to me, coming face to face with a Japanese teenager, possibly fifteen-years-old, with shoulder-length black hair, a few locks hanging over my forehead and orange eyes. I have a slim, but athletic build that belies my strength and I'm also rather tall, almost six-feet tall, actually.

I sigh before walking over to my bed and laying down on it, staring up blankly at the roof of my room..

Earth, here I come.

* * *

**One Day Later**

Someone was knocking on my door. Groaning, I get up. Who the hell knocks on a door in space?

Oh, that's who.

Once the door opens, I find myself face to face with Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Martian Manhunter, and _the_ Superman.

Green Lantern's suit is his classic look, although it looks a little more reinforced. Martian Manhunter has black pants with red boots, the red X over his upper body and a blue cape with a high collar connected to the upper parts of the X. The top part of the X has a black inside while the other three parts shows his unaltered skin. Superman's wearing what looks like his suit during the Rebirth, blue bodysuit, red boots, and a red belt with a golden buckle shaped like his symbol. No trunks, also. He even has the arm braces from _Man of Steel._

Green Lantern and Superman look at me surprised before quickly regaining their composure. Martian Manhunter's face doesn't change but I can feel the slight surprise in his mind, which is all I get from him considering how powerful of a telepath he is.

"Hi! I am Green Lantern of Sector 2814.1, these are my colleagues, Martian Manhunter," he just nods. "And Superman," Superman has a gentle smile on his face as he waves, I wave back. "Now, who are you and why are you coming to Earth?"

I try to talk but I can't, while I've been through so much, meeting three of the founding seven is still a shock to the system. I guess I've been staring at them for a while now, 'cause Green Lantern pokes me in the forehead with a green constructed finger. "You think he's broken?"

"GL…" Superman warns. Green Lantern backs away with his arms raised in surrender. He then looks at me and smiles again. "As my friend was saying: Could you please introduce yourself, and tell us why it is you're here? After all, most alien visitors we get tend to be a little, uh-"

"Destructive," Green Lantern chimes in.

Superman nods. "Yes. Destructive."

"R-right-"

"Guess he isn't broken. OW!" Green Lantern rubs his head after Superman smacks him.

"I am designated as Subject 111, though I've given myself the name Akiyama Daichi. Nice to meet you," I bow slightly as I introduce myself.

Once I get back up, I notice the confused look on both of their faces, and the intrigued one on Martian Manhunter's. "Wait, hold up. Your name's "Daichi Akiyama"? That isn't an alien name that I've heard of. Honestly sounds Japanese if anything else. And "Subject 111"?"

"That's because it is," I look at him blankly.

I don't know how, but I could tell he had an eyebrow raised, even with his mask on. "What? Were you abducted or something?"

"No. He's lived among the stars his entire life. This is his first time coming to Earth," Martian Manhunter says, speaking up for the first time. It's weird, almost like he's both physically speaking and talking to me in my head. That'll take a while to get used to.

"Yes and no. It's a confusing story, really. I'd be willing to tell you more if you'd let me go to your base," I tell them.

The three of them look at each other and have a telepathic conversation. Although in the real world it looked like they only shared a glance. They turn back to me; Green Lantern creates a construct around my room. "All right, we'll be taking you to our base, once there, we'll have Martian Manhunter and another one of our teammates verify your story."

This teammate's more than likely going to be Wonder Woman, after all, with the Lasso of Truth all of my answers will be the complete truth. Now that I think about it, because I'm evolved would I have a resistance to it, or maybe it won't even work at all? Well, once I get there guess I'll find out.

Looking outside, I can see the growing form of the Watchtower. Hm, looks like the Earth-16 version, the one in _Young Justice, _in case you didn't know. For a few minutes I can feel us stop, listening in, I can hear Green Lantern talking to the people inside about me, I hear the hangar doors open.

Welcome to the Watchtower, Daichi Akiyama.

Another knock on my door. Opening it I see a smirking Green Lantern. "C'mon, let's go meet the rest of the team."

After a few minutes of going through the Watchtower we eventually make it to the meeting room, in here I find the rest of the Justice League.

Of course, the rest of the original seven are here, alongside John Stewart, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Dr. Fate, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Shazam (Or maybe Captain Marvel), and Vixen.

Everybody stops their conversations once we arrive in the room. The Batman steps forward. "What's your name?" He asks.

His armor looks a lot like the Rebirth one. A full grey suit of armor with black lines across the parts where he needs to be flexible, black boots up to the knees, the inside of the thighs of his armor is black, and black gloves up to the elbows, the bat on his chest has a yellow outline and the inside of his cape is purple. The shoulders of his armor is black, seeing as his cape is connected to them.

"I am designated as Subject 111, though I have chosen the name Akiyama Daichi for myself, sir," I hold out my hand for him to shake. He slowly raises his own hand and shakes mine. Don't freak out, Daichi, the Batman just shook my hand. That's all.

"Why have you come to Earth…Daichi?" He continues.

"Well, I came to Earth because the person watching over me wanted to come here, but we were attacked, so he sent me," I answer.

"Who was the one taking care of you, and who attacked you?" Aquaman asks. He has his classic orange and green outfit, but again, this one looks a little more armored. His hair is also short, and he lacks the beard.

"He's known as the Evolutionary," I say. Hal Jordan groans as John Stewart tightens his grip on his chair. "We were attacked by people who wanted to...talk, with The Evolutionary."

"You guys know about this "Evolutionary"?" Flash asks the Green Lanterns.

"The corps has run into him a couple of times. He travels the universe, collecting specific individuals from countless species to evolve them. Some of his experiments have caused us problems in the past," John Stewart explains. Like Hal and Aquaman, classic suit, just more reinforced.

"Yeah, one nearly killed Guy," Hal Jordan adds. "He also evolves entire species whenever he wants, putting them in his debt."

"The entire species?" Green Arrow asks in shock.

Green Arrow has primarily dark green armor on, the top is sleeveless, and he has two of those long archer gloves that stop just below his shoulders. The armor is two different shades of green, darker on the top and lighter on the bottom. He has a hood that is currently down and a domino mask that is dark green. He's got his classic goatee as well.

"Yeah. I've seen it happen a couple of times, actually," I answer, which brings the attention back to me.

"How did he get a hold of you?" Aquaman asks.

"That's quite the story," I reply.

"Wonder Woman, your Lasso," Batman says.

Wonder Woman walks towards me and holds her Lasso of Truth towards me. "This is the Lasso of Truth, once under its spell you will be compelled to tell the truth. It's rather self-explanatory as to what it does."

She also has her Rebirth suit. Red and gold strapless top with two golden W's at the top of it, a golden belt with a W shaped buckle, and a blue skirt with stars on it. Her bracers have red stars on them, so does her golden tiara.

I then feel a presence in my mind, although it doesn't get far. "You have formidable telepathic defenses, may you please put them down?" Martian Manhunter asks.

I rub the back of my head. "I'd rather not. I've spent years training to always keep them up. Taking them down now seems wrong."

Batman just hums.

Wonder Woman rolls her eyes. "Forgive him, he looks for the bad in everything. Now, let us begin. What is your name?"

"Subject 111 AKA Akiyama Daichi," I answer after taking a hold of the Lasso of Truth.

"How did the Evolutionary get a hold of you?" Wonder Woman asks.

Ah crap, how do I answer this? I mean, I could tell them, or maybe I don't, pepper the truth with some lies. Who am I kidding? That won't work, somehow the truth will come out, and when it does, whatever relationship I have with the League will be damaged greatly. May as well tell them.

Looking up I see all of their faces, ranging from surprised to intrigue, guess I do have a resistance to the Lasso, after all, wouldn't I have to answer the question as soon as it's asked? Gathering my strength, I sigh as I look Wonder Woman in the eyes. "Do you guys know about the multiverse theory?"

Some of them share looks as others widen their eyes. Batman's eyes just narrow even more somehow.

Flash pipes up. "Oh, yeah, I have! I've actually traveled to a couple of other multiverses. In one of them I looked a lot like Grant Gustin, and in another I looked like Ezra Miller."

His armor was two different shades of red, darker on the outsides and lighter on the inside, with yellow lines separating the two shades. He also has the yellow lightning bolt belt and the lightning bolt on his chest.

"I too am aware of the multiverse." Dr. Fate says. His suit is reinforced, with a blue top with golden lines across the chest and his sides and navy-blue bottoms. Along with golden gloves, boots, a skirt-like thing around his waist, and a golden cape on his back. Where the cape meets on his chest is a small golden ankh. He also has on his famous helmet, the blank white eyes looking at me.

"And Power Girl of the Justice Society's from another universe," Superman adds.

"You're claiming to be from another universe?" Batman interrogates.

I take a deep breath. Moment of truth right here. "Yes. But it's more than another universe with alternate you guys. Where I'm from you guys are comic book characters."

Batman's eyes basically disappear as his eyes narrow even further. Green Arrow and Hal Jordan break out in laughter as Hawkgirl and Black Canary turn to each other and talk to each other.

Green Arrow eventually calms down as he wipes a tear that slipped from under his mask. "Funny story kid-"

"Oliver Queen," I interrupt.

They all stop and stare at me in shock, Green Arrow especially.

"Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince, Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Dinah Lance, Mari McCabe, Billy Batson, Kent Nelson, Carter Hall, and Shayera Hall (Or Kendra Saunders, I don't know)."

Things are quiet for a long moment; I swear I could hear a pin drop on Earth if I wanted to.

Eventually Batman walks towards me. "Talk."

"The Evolutionary told me that I come from the Prime Universe, where every other universe originates from, and there this universe-along countless others-started out as comic books. Now they're giants in the media industry, with TV shows, animated series, video games and other forms of media," I explain.

"How much about us do you know?" Batman continues.

"How many Robins have you had?" I ask.

He slightly tilts his head in confusion. "One."

"Dick Grayson. Son of John and Mary Grayson of the Haley Circus, they were-"

"That's enough," Batman interrupts.

"Who else do you know of that isn't here?" Flash asks.

"Wally West, Roy Harper, Donna Troy, and Garth. Although there might be more that I don't know of yet, this superhero community gets massive as time goes on," I answer.

"We're getting off topic again," Hawkman growls. "How did the Evolutionary get a hold of you?"

Hawkman has black pants on with golden boots. His top is a golden harness with a black hawk surrounded by a red circle in the center. He has two golden gauntlets that have sharp claws on them, and his harness has knives along it.

"Right, sorry. Back home I realized that I was going nowhere in life, had no idea what it was I wanted to do, and so The Evolutionary befriended me, and after a year he offered me a new chance at life. I don't remember what happened next, all I do know is that I suddenly woke up in this body, my old body was then destroyed," I explain.

"How long have you been with the Evolutionary?" Vixen asks. The chest area of her armor is golden-brown, everything under it is black. She also has those long gloves on that end in claws. Her necklace prominent.

"I think fifteen years? Uh…what year is it?" I ask Wonder Woman.

"2010," she answers.

Huh. That's the year season one of _Young Justice _takes place. But none of the League look like that version of themselves, also, Dr. Fate and Vixen weren't on the League around that time.

An alarm goes off from within the Watchtower. Black Canary quickly activates a hologram that appears over the table. "Gordanians, and they're approaching fast. They'll be on top of Earth within a few minutes. That's weird, one of the ships is moving faster than the others, and it's showing signs of damage."

She has her classic look, black and yellow boots, fishnets, a lightly reinforced black top and a leather jacket over it all.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl tighten their grips on their maces. "How did they get so close?" Hawkgirl asks.

Her suit is similar to Hawkman's, black bottoms with golden boots, a sleeveless black top and a golden harness with the same symbol in the center. She has red hair flowing out of her mask, so that must mean she's Shayera then.

"Cloaking tech," the League turn to look at me. "There were rumors swirling about that the Gordanians had new cloaking technology that let them sneak by practically any radar out there. Guess it's true. Don't know anything about the damaged one though."

"Why would they send a large fleet of ships to get this small one back though?" Shazam/Captain Marvel wonders. I really need to figure out what he calls himself.

His suit is pure red, with golden boots and arm bracers. His lightning bolt is outlined by gold and glows with electric energy, and his cape has a golden outline and is also connected to a hood that is currently down.

"Doesn't matter. Green Lanterns, Superman, Martian Manhunter, deal with the ships now, the rest of us will go planet side and deal with any that get past you, hopefully the Justice Society can help," Batman orders. The Leaguers get up and exit the meeting room, having nowhere else to go, I decide to follow them. Batman turns around to face me. "You. What are your powers?"

"Superhuman physical capabilities, accelerated regenerative healing factor, energy manipulation and redirection, heat vision, x-ray vision, microscopic vision, telescopic vision, infrared vision, flight, phasing (with my super speed), telekinesis, and telepathy," I list.

Flash whistles. "Hear that Supes, you have a rival now."

"Guess so. Come on Lanterns, Manhunter, let's go deal with these guys," Superman says as he steps on the teleporters, looks like the ones from the _Justice League/Unlimited _series, cool.

"We'll try to not hog all the fun. No promises though," Hal Jordan says.

"Maybe you guys will get one or two ships, we'll see," John Stewart says.

Martian Manhunter says nothing as the four of them then teleport away.

"Gordanians are cold-blooded, meaning they'll stay away from colder locations. Flash, Dr. Fate, and Red Tornado, you three will be in London, that seems to be the trajectory of one of their ships," Batman continues. The three of them step on the teleporter.

Once they disappear, Batman points at another spot on a holographic map of the globe. "Vixen, Shazam, and Green Arrow will be in the Amazon jungle."

Ah, so he's Shazam.

"And the rest of us will be in New York City," Batman finishes.

_"Hold. The smaller ship is now entering visual field of vision,"_ Red Tornado says.

He has an almost pure red body, yellow T on his chest surrounded by a circle and connected by a line that goes to his…belt area? A yellow arrow on his head, and a blue cape with a high collar, outlined by yellow.

Looking outside we see the smaller ship, which still happens to be rather big, use the chaos to its advantage as it flies forward. We can see that all of the damage it took came from the inside, and it jerks side to side as it flies.

"Tornado," Batman turns to the android.

"_Calculating. The ship's estimated landing point is San Francisco, California,"_ Red Tornado informs.

Batman thinks for a moment before turning to me. "Get on the teleporter, go check out what's going on with that ship," He hands me an earpiece. "Check in with me once you rendezvous with them, understood?"

"Yeah," I step on the teleporter. As I feel my body begin to breakdown one thing finally occurs to me. "Wait "them"?" I am then teleported to San Francisco.

* * *

**San Francisco, California**

I shake my head to get my bearings, after all, teleporting from a relatively silent space station to a crowded city is one hell of a change, especially when you have super hearing.

Looking around, I see people looking at me with awe and wonder, probably thinking I'm a member of the Justice League, before long they look to the sky, and their looks of awe quickly shift to fear.

Taking to the air, I fly up to the falling Gordanian ship and prepare to catch it. Once we connect, I fly against it, slowing it down greatly in the process. Buuuut it was going pretty fast, so I can't stop it outright, thankfully there's a massive body of water nearby. With the help of my telekinesis I shift the trajectory of the ship and lead it towards the water.

Just before I land the ship in the water, a green blast of energy slams into me. Thanks to my powers I don't take damage, but because it came from out of nowhere, I still get thrown back, meaning the ship crashes into the water instead, creating a giant splash that throws everything around on the street. More blasts of the green energy come from out of the ship, along with blue blasts of energy, which look like energy rifles.

One large blast tears through the ship, and out of it flies an extremely attractive orange girl with glowing green eyes, and red hair. She's wearing a shredded, two-piece purple and silver suit.

Her top is a sleeveless, two-tone purple shirt that stops below her chest, showing off her midriff. The neck of the suit is silver, a green gem at the bottom of it. She wears purple sorts with green gems on either side and has a silver belt. She also has thigh-high dark purple boots and dark purple arm sleeves. She also has bracers on each forearm, green gems on both of them.

Gordanians come flooding out of the ship on hovercrafts, but before they can get far, the water shifts into a giant fist that punches some of the hovercrafts out of the air. From the water comes a tall muscular guy who looks a little older than me.

He has black hair and purple eyes, his suit looks a lot like Aquaman's, although the top is red while the bottom is blue. He also has golden bracers and a golden belt with a stylized A in the center around his waist. Here's Aqualad.

Come on Daichi, get your head in the game.

I notice some Gordanians corner a family, I take flight and fly towards them, shoulder charging one into a building. Before the other two could react, I aim my fists at them as I fire concussive blasts at their heads, sending them flying in opposite directions.

"You guys okay?" I ask the family.

"Y-y-yes. Thank you," the dad replies.

"Good," I duck as a Gordanian attempts to sucker punch me, I then rise up with a headbutt to his chin, sending him flying into a tidal wave made by Aqualad. "Get out of here, we've got this."

The family quickly gets up and runs away, keeping their heads down as they do. I turn around to come face to face with two more Gordanians, they are then electrocuted before falling over. I see an arrow in the back of one of their heads and what looks like a disc on the other.

"You're welcome!"

Looking up, I see a short kid with black hair wearing red, black, and green light armor, with some yellow here and there. The lower part of his armor is black, while his boots are black with some yellow straps, the upper part is mainly red with green shoulders and black sleeves, with a green line separating the sleeves and gloves. His cape is black on the outside with a yellow inside and he has a stylized yellow R surrounded by a black circle on the left side of his chest, he also has a black domino mask over his eyes. Here's the first Robin.

Next to him is a tall guy with armor that's two shades of red and yellow. The bottom is light red with dark red kneepads and a black line separating the light red boots from his kneepads. His upper armor is red with some yellow lines on the sides, it is also sleeveless, but he has an archer glove on his right hand that is black and one of those long sleeve gloves that goes up to his shoulder on his left, this one also black with some yellow here and there. He has on a yellow cap with a red feather and a domino mask, although his is a deep red. Underneath his hat I can see red hair. Hello, Speedy.

I fly up to them, blasting Gordanians with my heat vision as I do. "You another Kryptonian?" Speedy asks.

"No, I'm human, just like you two," I direct a thunderclap at a group of Gordanians, sending them all over the place.

"You're one strong human then. Robin, this guy's Speedy, and water boy over there's Aqualad. Who's the orange girl?" Robin asks.

"No idea. Batman sent me here to investigate what's up with this ship. He also told me to call him once I found "them", whoever they are," I say.

The two of them share a surprised look before turning back to me. "You know Batman?" Robin asks.

"Yeah, my room was on its way here when Superman, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern intercepted it. They took me to the Watchtower where I met the rest of the League," I answer.

"Guess he wanted you to meet with us. Batman also sent us out here," Speedy says as he launches a foam arrow at a group, stopping them all in their tracks. "Still don't know why he didn't just tell Green Arrow or Black Canary to contact me, I was terrified when I saw who was calling me."

"Same here," a blur of red and yellow throws Gordanians around.

It eventually stops to reveal a redhead who looks to be my age with red bottoms and yellow boots and the complete opposite on the top, a red lightning bolt surrounded by a white circle. He has a cowl that shows his green eyes and lower face while keeping his red hair free, he also has goggles on his forehead. He speeds up to me and shakes my hand. "Kid Flash, your name?"

"Akiyama Daichi," I reply.

"I meant codename," he says.

"Don't have one," I say.

A Gordanian hovercraft crashes nearby us, startling us all. We look at the direction it came from to see a girl more attractive than even Starfire had thrown it.

"If you boys are done gossiping could you please help deal with the invaders?" She asks pointedly.

The beautiful girl has her wavy black hair in a high ponytail and looks at us with her ocean blue eyes. She has a sleeveless red top with two large, white stars on each side and silver bracers on her toned arms, a blue shoulder pad on her right shoulder, a white star on that. A golden belt around her waist with the same W buckle as Wonder Woman, the bottom half of her suit is blue with red boots, three stars along outside of her pants as well. She also has a golden Lasso, a sword, and a shield. Hello, Wonder Girl.

"She's right, we can talk after dealing with these guys," Robin says before jumping off the roof and landing on a passing hovercraft, taking out the Gordanians on it.

Kid Flash salutes before running off to deal with others in the distance. Speedy pats my shoulder as he fires a grappling arrow to the roof of the tallest building in the area.

Seeing another group of Gordanians heading towards Wonder Girl, I decide to intercept them. I fire energy blasts at their hovercrafts, destroying them in the process, as one flies towards me, using the smoke as cover, a Gordanian is thrown into it, sending the hovercraft careening away.

Wonder Girl flies towards me and we float back to back, sending back any Gordanian who happens to get too close. "Thank you for your assistance," she begins. She dodges to the side and hits a Gordanian with a right hook. "Although it isn't needed," she quickly equips her shield and protects us from fire by one of the hovercrafts.

"Can't let you have all the fun, now can I?" I rhetorically ask. I create an energy bubble around us that absorb the fire coming at us, it then fires back, with my own energy added, causing some of the hovercraft to crash. "How many of these guys are there, dammit?"

"No idea. What's your name?" She asks as she slices at a hovercraft horizontally.

"Akiyama Daichi, yours?" I push kick a Gordanian off his craft, he bumps into another one sending them both falling.

"Wonder Girl. But I meant what is your codename," she bashes the pilot of a craft with her shield.

"Don't have one," I do another thunderclap, but this time my fists are covered in energy, creating a wave of concussive force that sends them away.

Eventually the Gordanians get smart and decide to retreat. The two of us look at each other and nod before landing on the ground to assist Kid Flash and Robin.

Kid Flash spins his arms around, creating two small tornados that sends a group of Gordanians into a water jar made by Aqualad. Two arrows fly in between a large number of them, an explosion then occurs, all thanks to Speedy.

"Goddammit, how many of these guys are there?" Speedy says in annoyance as he joins us, firing net arrows, trapping three of them.

"No idea. That damn ship's like a clown car," I reply. Robin grumbles at that.

A large group rushes towards us, but before they can get any closer, a wave of water washes them into the body of water. Aqualad lands next to us. Forgot he could fly.

A car flies into a Gordanian standing behind Garth. Once the explosion clears, we see a female form wearing a black and red cloak floating down. Her face is covered by a red mask over the bottom half of her face, a hood covering the rest. Two green lights emitting from her hood. Here's Omen, the one I know the least about.

"Omen! Took you long enough! Was beginning to think you weren't gonna show," Robin calls out.

She turns around and looks at some more of our enemies, the glow of her eyes intensifies momentarily, the Gordanians drop in response. "Wouldn't miss this for the world, Robin. Who's the flying girl and your new friend?"

"Akiyama Daichi, have no idea who she is though," I lie.

"I meant your-"

"I don't have one," I interrupt. This is gonna be a thing, isn't it?

"Bad guys are running away," Wonder Girl calls out.

True enough, the Gordanians hop on whatever hovercrafts are still available and head back to their ship, avoiding Starfire's blasts as they do.

"Akiyama, think you can tell the hottie with a body to calm down?" Kid Flash asks. He notices the glares from Omen and Wonder Girl. "What? I'm not wrong."

I take flight and head towards her. Once she notices my approach, she holds her fists up, they start glowing green, as well as her eyes. "_(You and your friends assisted me, for that I do not outright attack you. But I must ask who you are and why should I trust you)."_

_"(My name is Akiyama Daichi,)"_ I've been saying that a lot today, haven't I? _"(My friends and I are heroes, and we're here to stop the Gordanians. Your help would be greatly appreciated)."_

She looks at my outstretched hand for a moment before relenting. Her eyes and hands stop glowing as she takes my hand. I lead the two of us down to the others. "Guys, this is…" I turn to her. _"(I never got to ask your name)."_

_"(Koriand'r)," s_he answers.

"Koriand'r. She wants to fight against the Gordanians, so, I think we have a mutual goal," I tell them.

"You understand her?" Robin asks as he steps forward, studying her.

"Yeah, I know pretty much any known language out there," I explain.

"Ask her if she has a translator of some kind. Working together would be hard if we always need you to translate," Robin orders.

_"(Do you have a translator?)"_ I ask her.

In response, she grabs Robin by the head and kisses him deeply, surprising everyone but me. She then pulls back and looks at the group. "What is your plan?"

"W-why...?" Omen asks.

"My species is capable of learning languages through physical contact. Is that not how things are here?" She asks as she tilts her head.

Kid Flash quickly recovers and pushes a still malfunctioning Robin to the side. "I know French!"

Wonder Girl sighs as she places her head in her hands. "Really, Wally? Really?"

"Well I know every known language," I counter. In response, Kory grabs me by the head and pulls me into a deep kiss. I can feel her pull back and probably say something, I don't know, my brain isn't working so well right now.

"And you broke both of them. Great," Aqualad creates two small orbs of water and throws them at our heads, shocking us back into the situation. "Hey, we've still got an alien invasion to deal with, remember?"

"Right, uh, yeah," Robin turns to Kory. "Do you know why they retreated?"

"It's possible they plan to repair their ship, either to call for reinforcements or to attack from the skies," she answers.

"I thought you took it down?" I ask.

"I destroyed the comms and much of the bridge, but the damage wasn't too extensive. We need to strike now, before they fix their comms," Kory says.

"Why?" Speedy asks.

"If they repair their comms, they will call for reinforcements, which I do not think we can handle," she says.

"Don't underestimate us! I mean, did you see how easily we took those guys out? It was embarrassing," Kid Flash argues.

"KF's got a point. I mean, yeah, having more of them would be tiring, but I think we could take 'em on," Speedy agrees.

Kory shakes her head. "No, those were just fodder, the more powerful Gordanians are waiting inside, we must take them out now."

"Wonder how the League's doing," Kid Flash mutters.

"Right. I gotta call Batman, I think he wanted me to call once I met you guys," I back away and put the earpiece in my ear.

_"How are things?" _Batman asks. In the background I hear explosions and roaring.

"I'm here with Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, and Omen. There's another girl here too, she's of the planet Tamaran, her name's Koriand'r."

_"Is she related to the Gordanians being here?" _Batman asks.

"They had her captive, I think she hijacked a ship, which is why they're here now. They retreated back into the ship, probably to call in reinforcements. How are things on your end?" I ask.

The explosions intensify. After barking some orders Batman speaks again. _"It's a process. Move in on the ship and take care of it now, according to the space team things are intensifying. Batman out."_

The earpiece turns off. I turn around and head back to the group to find them still debating what to do. "What'd Batman say?" Robin asks.

"He wants us to take care of them now, they're getting reinforcements in space right now, so he wants us to take care of them now." I answer.

"Got it. Oh, where are my manners?" Aqualad steps forward. "My name is Aqualad, what's yours?"

"Akiyama Daichi."

"I meant-"

"He doesn't have one," the others interrupt.

"You should make one, if we call you Akiyama all the time someone might hunt you down," Kid Flash advises.

"Do you think my name's Akiyama?" I ask.

He looks at me confused. "It is, isn't it?"

I laugh lightly. "Yeah, it is. But my first name's Daichi, it's Japanese culture to introduce yourself by your family name first."

"Got it," Kid Flash says with a thumbs up.

"But seriously though, do you have a codename?" Speedy asks.

I put my finger on my chin as I think. Maybe Vitruvian Man? After the painting. No, that's stupid. Evolutionary? Nah, he'd probably come back somehow to sue me. Mimic? What the hell? Where'd that come from? Subject 111? No, I've done everything I can to move past that. Got it. "You can call me Apex."

"Nice. I can't wait to fight alongside you, Apex," Wonder Girl says a smile on her face. She turns to Kory "What about you?"

"In your language my name would translate to Starfire. So that will be my codename. Is that satisfactory?" Kory looks around.

"Oh yeah," Robin says, still in a slight shock over the kiss from earlier.

Omen shakes her head as she smacks Robin over the back of the head. "Come on, we've wasted enough time as is, if Batman ordered us to take out the ship then we take out the ship."

Robin rubs the back of his head but becomes serious. "Omen's right. Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Apex, the three of you will be the vanguard, head into the bridge of the ship, we'll follow. Omen, Speedy, cover me while I look for an intact console to hack. Kid Flash, you and Starfire will go around causing havoc. You guys good?"

Thinking over the plan I nod, it's good.

"You want all of us on the bridge during the entire thing?" Aqualad asks.

"When things are cleared enough, I want Wonder Girl and Apex to move towards the engine room, but to also cause as much mayhem as they can on the way there," Robin says.

"There is something I must add," Starfire says. We all turn to her. "That was a prison ship, and I wasn't the only prisoner."

Robin rubs his chin as he takes this into consideration. "Alright. Starfire, KF, you two will free the prisoners instead. Wonder Girl and Apex, you two will stick with the plan. Got it?" We all nod. "Good. Let's go!"

Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and I take to the air. Honestly, it's kind of weird seeing an Atlantean fly.

As we near the bridge, the Gordanians fire at us with their energy rifles, so I put up an energy shield that absorbs the bolts that then fires the energy back, twice as strong. I put my shield down and drop on what looks to be the captain, smashing him into the ground as I do. Wonder Girl flies shield first into another and Aqualad comes in with a drill of water behind him, creating a surge of water that forces Gordanians out of the room.

I reach for the ground and dig my fingers into the floor, I then raise my arms, sending a bunch of them flying all over the place. Wonder Girl ducks under a swipe from one of them and slashes at its leg, once it drops down, she bashes it in the face with her shield. I point two of my fingers outside and fire a flare, shortly after the rest of the team comes surging in.

While in the air, Speedy launches two explosive arrows that send Gordanians flying. It also destroys some consoles nearby. "Sorry!" He apologizes to Robin.

During the chaos Starfire and Kid Flash slip by, taking out some more enemies on the way. "Seriously though, this place is a clown car. I mean, how many of these guys are there?" I wonder as I blast one back with heat vision.

"Not having fun?" Wonder Girl taunts. "By all means, step back, more Storm Troopers for me to take down."

I feel my blood boil at that. "Thanks to my upbringing, I welcome any challenge, Wonder Girl. Try to keep up."

She just smirks in response. "You might regret challenging me, Apex."

"Seriously, WG? Flirting with the guy after just meeting him? Talk about quick," Robin quips as he finds a console.

Omen laughs as she lifts some Gordanians up and throws them into another group. "Maybe he's flirting with her. Wonder Girl does have that effect on men, right, Speedy?"

Said archer just grumbles something before shooting a scatter arrow that takes down multiple Gordanians.

The Gordanian numbers begin to thin, so Wonder Girl turns to me. "Now's as good a time as any? Wouldn't you agree, Apex?"

I nod as I get into a runner's position, absorbing any blasts that happen to hit me. "Let's go blow the engine up," I launch forward, tackling through the enemy, Wonder Girl flying above me.

Using my x-ray vision, I find their armory. Signaling to Wonder Girl, we turn and break through the wall Kool-Aid Man style.

The Gordanians in the room stop what they're doing and stare at us in shock. Wonder Girl puts her sword and shield on her back as she floats next to me, cracking her knuckles as she does. "Hello, you're currently invading our home. You can either leave peacefully or you could stay and get your asses kicked by us. Please choose the second option."

Before they can react, I raise my right fist and fire at what looks like a rocket launcher, causing an explosion that probably kills them all, but thanks to my time in space, I don't really care. Wonder Girl turns to me with a pout on her face. "You're no fun."

I just smirk and ruffle her hair, much to her annoyance. "I just wanna get this over with quickly. C'mon, we've got an engine to blow up, remember?"

Her smirk quickly returns as she palms her fist. "Yes, let's blow shit up. But we also need to cause as much destruction as possible," she exits the room and enters the one across from it. "You go through there, I go through here, I'll follow you to the engine room."

Looking around with my x-ray vision, I eventually find the engine room, which happens to be straight ahead then straight down. "It isn't that far actually, go through five rooms then down two, it'll be right there. Ready?"

She stands behind her shield, ready to run through the walls. "Ready."

The two of us shoot forward, faster than speeding bullets. As we run through rooms, I emit energy blasts from my body, destroying anything in my path, using my hearing I can hear Wonder Girl's shield running through anything in her path. Once we reach the fifth room we simultaneously jump and then crash through the floors, eventually landing in the engine room.

Here we see a Gordanian who happens to be bigger than the rest surrounded by smaller Gordanians who have on what looks like technician clothing. The large Gordanian laughs as he presses a button. Wonder Girl and I look at each other in confusion. Was that supposed to do something? The ground beneath us shakes.

Quickly regaining our footing, we see the Gordanians laughing. "I recognize this feeling," I say.

Wonder Girl nods. "Same here."

My earpiece goes off, and so does Wonder Girl's. _"Guys, what the hell happened? The ships taking off, and we have no control up here," _Robin says.

"They repaired the engine faster than we anticipated; the captain is here amongst his engineers. Apex and I will handle it." Wonder Girl gets in a combat stance, I follow suit. The Gordanians pull out pistols, while their captain brandishes an energy axe.

"This'll be fun," I mutter.

We charge forward.

* * *

**A/N 8/15/2020**

**The overhaul took this chapter from over 10,000 words to over 11,000. That's a lot. **

**So as you can see, I've made some small changes here and there, the Evolutionary looks more human-like then the original version of himself, Kory and Omen now have different suits, and I've changed up Daichi's past fifteen years, which we'll get more of later. I've also fixed a lot of mistakes, like Wonder Girl barely knowing what Storm Troopers are before she suddenly knows the prequels no problem a few chapters later. **

**It's little mistakes like that that lead to this overhaul, really. All the small mistakes eventually lead to big problems that need to be rectified, which is why this is happening. **

**This overhaul's a lot easier too, mainly because the chapters are already at my minimum word length, whereas in **_**A Sinister Past**_**, they're all random lengths before the Brotherhood Arc, which is 8,000 words minimum. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you two Saturdays from now, you beautiful people! **


	2. Teen Titans Together

**A/N 8/15/2020**

**Yeah, editing these is so much easier than **_**A Sinister Past.**_

**To help me keep up with everything that happens, I've decided to write down notes to help me keep up with every important thing that happens in each arc, instead of going through past chapters to get the right thing written down. Don't know why I didn't do that before. **

**But hey, thank you for reading these chapters again! I really do appreciate it, and if you'd be willing to leave some reviews that'd be great as well! **

**Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**Teen Titans Together**

I twist my body to the left to avoid the leader's axe as it cleaves through the air. I feel the energy radiating off of the weapon.

While the axe is embedded into the ground, I snap my leg forward, kicking it in the chest, which sends it into the glass separating us from the engine. Before the leader can recover, I press the attack, hitting it with a hammer fist that breaks the glass, sending us both to the engine room. I stay in the air and hit it with heat vision, sending it down faster, but as soon as the leader lands, it gets up quickly, surprising me

It throws the axe at me, once in the air, the two blades split off, and the handle becomes a spear. The blades spin around me, while staying connected to the handle with a chain of electricity. The spear hits me in the chest, it doesn't pierce but it does stick to me, the blades spin around me three times, getting closer as they do, before trapping my arms to my body like a bola. A surge of electricity comes from the trap, I feel my muscles lock up temporarily.

I crash into the ground, the Gordanian captain stands over me and pulls out an energy knife from its belt, the leader chuckles as it stands over me.

It raises the knife up with both hands and then brings it down. Once the knife connects, I absorb it, meaning only the handle hits me. The captain looks at me in surprise. Using that to my advantage, I bring my legs in and strike out, hitting it in the legs, once it, falls over, I headbutt it away. I flex my arms, sending the axe away from me, I then stretch my arms out, getting rid of the built-up tightness from my muscles locking

Three technicians come flying, all landing on the captain. Wonder Girl lands next to me, still holding one by the neck, she quickly tosses it into the pile. "Are you really having this much trouble with the captain?" She asks.

"Only problem I have with this guy is that he recovers faster than the others. And his durability's surprisingly high," I tell her. Our earpieces go off. "This is Apex, what's up?"

_"Robin here, I've got bad news and good news, bad news is the ship's planning to fire on the city, good news: it'll take about forty-five minutes," _Robin tells us.

"Can't you do anything up there?" Wonder Girl asks.

_"I can't get control of the ship from here, something's blocking me out,"_ Robin replies.

The Gordanian captain slowly rises up from the pile, it holds a hand out causing the gauntlet on its arm to glow red, the axe returns to its normal form and flies into its hand, Mjolnir style.

"All right. Robin, do what you can, if you can't do anything by twenty-five minutes tell us," I say.

_"What're you gonna do?" _Robin questions.

Wonder Girl charges forward to deal with the captain.

"I'm going to take the ship to space and blow it up. Let's hope it doesn't come to that," I reply.

_"Let's hope. Good luck you guys, Robin out," _the earpiece turns off.

A warhammer smashes into the top of my head, sending me to the ground and causing my head to explode in slight pain.

Shaking my head, I look up to see a different, massive Gordanian standing over me, the warhammer raised to strike again. I roll out of the way once it hits the floor and punch the Gordanian in the face with an energy infused punch, sending it through the windows up above.

Wonder Girl jumps to my back. "You were right, he is more durable than the others," she raises her shield to block a strike. "Who's your new friend?"

"No idea. Likes his hammers, though. You got the captain?" I ask.

She nods. "As long as you got Hammer Boy."

I smile and jump through the window, dodging a swing from the hammer. Once I land, I slam my fists on the ground, creating a shockwave that has Hammer Boy lose balance. While he stumbles, I leap forward, headfirst, and collide with his chest, I can hear the wind leave his lungs. The two of us crash through a wall, before he can recover, I repeatedly stomp on his chest, on my eighth stomp he grabs my leg and swings me to the side.

I get up on one knee to see the hammer coming towards me, it hits my chest and sends me even further down the hallway. Huh, I actually felt that. Kind of. Was more like getting punched by a little kid if anything else. But it's still annoying, he just won't go down. The hammer hits me in the side of the head, the other side of my head hits the wall, making a Daichi sandwich. Yay, _Resident Evil _reference.

I've had enough of this.

I grab the handle near the hammer head and squeeze, snapping it in two. The Gordanian looks at me in surprise. I rear my fist back and coat it in energy, swinging forward with a right hook. It connects, sending him flying down the hallway, the force behind the punch causes the paneling on the walls to tear off.

I get up and crack my neck. "I'd stay down if I were you. For your own good," I warn.

Wonder Girl turns the corner, stepping over the Gordanian, and walks towards me, her sword dripping with blood. She notices me staring at the weapon. "Oh, he's not dead," she swings the sword, all the blood splatters on the wall and ground. "But he wishes he were. Good work with him by the way."

"Right back at you. Do you know how the others are doing? Where Kid Flash and Starfire are?" I ask.

A yellow and red blur stops next to us. "Hey guys! Great job with them, by the way."

Starfire follows shortly after. "Yes, great job, those two have always been a pain to deal with."

Wonder Girl turns to me and lazily points her sword at the two. "Found them."

"Thanks," I turn to Starfire. "Hey, Starfire, the ship activated and the others in the bridge have no way of controlling it, do you know why?"

Her eyes widen considerably. "How do you know this?"

"Robin told us, why?" I ask, worried that this means more than what we think it does. I activate my earpiece. "Hey, Robin, what exactly did the console say when you found out they were gonna fire on the city?"

_"It just said 'Firing System Activated' why?"_ He replies.

"Hold," I turn to Starfire again. "It said "Firing System Activated"."

Her eyes widen even more. "The Firing System is a type of bomb, with it they transform their ship into a giant firebomb, from the explosion, intense heat radiates. If it were to explode on your planet this entire area would become a second sun."

Wonder Girl and Kid Flash step back in shock. "Oh shit!" Kid Flash cries.

"Yeah, Robin, so the Firing System is really some super firebomb that'll turn all of California, maybe the entire west coast, into a secondary sun. Which won't be good for the rest of the planet, might I say," I tell him.

I hear his heart skip a beat. _"Oh," _the line goes quiet for about a minute. _"Well, we've got thirty minutes before it blows."_

_"Hold up, what!?" _I hear Speedy shout in the background.

_"Wait, what about the prisoners? Have you guys met up with KF and Starfire?" _Robin asks.

Oh, right. I turn to the two. "Hey, what about the prisoners?"

An explosion is heard from the deck below us. "They were more than willing to help deal with these guys," Kid Flash says a large victorious smirk on his face.

_"Right, I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say that was the prisoners. Okay, I've got a plan. The four of you, come back to the bridge ASAP." _Robin finishes.

"Got it," I turn off the earpiece and turn to the three. "Robin wants us on the bridge, he's got a plan."

On the way to the bridge, we run into a small group of Gordanians, we make quick work of them. Once we arrive at the bridge, I activate my earpiece. "We're here."

The door opens to show Speedy slowly lowering his bow, Omen puts some debris down telekinetically, and Aqualad stands in a relaxed position. Robin gets up from the computer and has us all stand together.

"Here's the plan: Speedy, Kid Flash, and Starfire will look for escape pods. Wonder Girl and Apex are with me, we'll head to the engine room and try to either deactivate the engine or destroy it. Omen and Aqualad will gather the prisoners and direct them to the escape pods," he says.

"How will they tell them?" Starfire asks.

"I'm a telepath," Omen simply explains.

"How much time do we have?" Aqualad asks.

"Twenty-four minutes," Robin answers grimly.

"That's not a lot of time," Kid Flash grimaces.

"Yeah, which is why we have to move now," Robin gets up, the two of us follow him out of the bridge, the others following as well. Once we reach a fork we split into our groups and go for our objectives.

* * *

**Speedy, Kid Flash, and Starfire**

"Starfire, you know the layout of this ship better than we do, can you lead us to the escape pods?" Speedy asks.

Starfire has an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry, I do not know the exact location of the escape pods, the Gordanians made sure we never even saw them. But I will try my best to direct us. Who knows? Maybe what areas I don't know will end up helping us."

Kid Flash gives her a thumbs up. "That's the spirit. Well, lead the- incoming!"

A group of Gordanians comes marching from across the hall, a massive one with a large minigun in the center. Speedy groans in annoyance as he nocks an arrow. "Apex was right, this thing is a damn clown car."

Starfire tilts her head in confusion as her fists and eyes glow green. "What is a "clown car"? And why is it similar to a Gordanian prison ship?"

Speedy fires his arrow, it creates a smoke screen that envelopes the group of Gordanians. "I'll tell you later."

Starfire dodges a stray bolt from the smoke screen and fires into it, smirking once she hears her bolt connect. "Yes, after we defeat the Gordanians I would appreciate if you teach me Earth customs."

"Yeah. Though I'm not sure if I'm the best teacher," Speedy admits with a sheepish smile as he ducks. While down, he swings his bow at the legs of his attacker, knocking the invader down. Once the Gordanian is on the ground, he slams the end of his bow into the Gordanian's throat, knocking it out.

Starfire smiles innocently as she kicks a Gordanian into another. "As long as you try your best I would appreciate it, thank you."

"Oooooh no. Nuh uh. No way Jose. C'mon Star, he admitted he'd be bad. Besides, he's got a thing for a certain Amazonian Princess. Wouldn't want her to get jealous, would we? Me, on the other hand, I could show you the world, no stuffy planes necessary, and we could go eat some French, or Chinese, all at the country of origin while I show you our ways," Kid Flash counter offers.

"I take it those are also types of food?" Starfire asks. She punches a Gordanian who happens to get close, sending it into the wall where it slides down unconscious.

"Yeah, I- wait, where's the big one?" Kid Flash wonders as he stands over two Gordanians that he recently knocked out by punching them with a barrage.

Laser bolts come screaming down the hallway, reacting quickly, Kid Flash grabs Speedy and Starfire and brings them to a space in between the walls, avoiding the laser bolts.

"Thanks Kid," Speedy takes a chance and looks around the corner, he quickly comes back in once a laser bolt collides with the wall right in front of him. "I'm gonna throw down another smoke, once that happens Kid, I want you to go out and take his gun, Starfire you move in and hit him with all you've got."

"And the other guys?" Kid Flash asks. He already gets into a runner's position, ready to go through with the plan.

"I've got them dealt with, don't worry," Speedy nocks two arrows, a smoke arrow and one with a segmented tip. "Ready, set, GO!" He fires the smoke arrow, giving Kid Flash cover.

Everything slows down for Kid Flash. He runs out of the space in the hallway and runs through the smoke, avoiding laser bolts from the big Gordanian and the smaller ones. Kid Flash then puts his feet on the wall and runs to the ceiling, running upside down, seeing this as an easier route.

Landing behind the big Gordanian, he studies the power suit it is wearing, the minigun is connected to a powerpack on the back by a tube. After some time looking it over, Kid Flash eventually finds where the latches are and disconnects them, all without anyone else noticing. Grabbing the armor, he runs back to his teammates and drops the armor, with the minigun attached to the ground.

Time goes back to its normal pace for him.

Starfire looks at Kid Flash, surprised by his speed. "Your turn, beautiful," Kid Flash winks.

Starfire's face becomes serious as she jumps into the hallway, arms glowing intensely, once the smoke begins to clear, she fires a powerful blast at the big Gordanian, sending it flying down the hallway.

While the others look at their leader's retreating form in shock, Speedy jumps out of the space and fires his arrow. During its flight it splits into multiple thinner arrows, bouncing off of the surfaces and hitting each Gordanian perfectly.

Kid Flash whistles as he places his hands on both of their shoulders. "That was impressive you guys, we'll take 'em all out in no time."

"Your speed is impressive as well, Kid Flash," Starfire compliments.

Kid Flash blushes as he bashfully scratches the back of his head. "Oh, you liar you! But please, continue."

Speedy sighs and shakes his head before smacking his bow into the back of Kid Flash's knee, causing the speedster to buckle in place. "Escape pods, remember?"

Kid Flash gets up and stretches his legs. "Yeah, I remember. Hey, why don't I just run around, I'll find them then, right?"

"Yeah, or you could find the barrel of a gun," Speedy argues.

Kid Flash scoffs. "Dude, I could easily avoid their guns, I mean, did you not see what I just did? Besides, I could phase if I chose to."

Speedy smirks as he turns to Kid Flash. "Oh, so you mastered it then?"

Kid Flash growls as he glares at Speedy. Before their argument could go any further their earpieces go off. "This is Speedy."

_"How're the escape pods looking?" _Wonder Girl replies. Speedy feels a pit in his stomach at the tone of her voice. Last time she sounded like this; Kid Flash cried for two hours straight.

"It's uh, it's going great. Why do you ask?" Speedy wondered.

An explosion is heard, followed by a scream from what sounds like Robin. _"Oh, you know, Apex just told me you guys are arguing about stupid things that aren't mission related. That's all."_

Speedy gulps. "We're on it."

_"Good," _the commlink goes dead.

"She's scary," Kid Flash breaths. "But hot, so I see why you like her."

Speedy glares at Kid Flash.

Starfire looks at the two confused before walking forward. "Come, down this hallway there is a map, maybe it can tell us where the escape pods are."

The walk to the map is short, and on the way the group walk into two confused Gordanians, they were easy to take out.

Once they reach the map Kid Flash groans in annoyance. "Please tell me you can read this," the map looks like any other map out there, the only problem was that all of the words were in Gordanian, which none of them knew.

"Yes, I can. It says the escape pods will be down our next left, then two rights," Starfire tells them. Never mind, looks like Starfire knows.

On the way there nothing of importance happens, but once they make it there, that's when things get interesting.

Waiting for them are two smaller Gordanians with special black armor, to Speedy and Kid Flash they looked like special forces. Between them is a larger one, but not in the sense of muscle, but rather this Gordanian is fat, he is also wearing regal clothing that look like they wouldn't belong anywhere near this prison ship, and once he sees Starfire, the Gordanian begins to panic.

Starfire's eyes and fists glow with an intensity that the other two had yet to see. "You," she growls.

Speedy and Kid Flash look at each other and nod. She can handle the big one.

Without any preamble, Starfire launches forward, the black armored Gordanians attempt to block her, she just rockets past them and slams into the big one, flying with it through the opposite wall.

Speedy fires an ice arrow at the foot of one of them, stopping it in its tracks. He fires another arrow towards its shoulder, it catches it and mocks Speedy with a chuckle, Speedy just smiles, confusing the Gordanian. The arrow explodes, sending it headfirst into an escape pod, knocking it out.

Kid Flash runs in a circle around his Gordanian, punching it as he does. He quickly stops and kicks its foot out from under it, before it can hit the floor, he grabs it by the face and slams it into the ground, back of the head first, and runs in a circle, dragging it along the ground. He then throws it out of the room.

They share a victorious smile before turning around due to a loud sound made by Starfire. The two turn to see her standing over the now unconscious Gordanian, her fists raised, ready to end its life.

Kid Flash speeds over and wraps his arms around her and pulls her back. "Hey, hey, hey! He's down, you won. Calm down."

Starfire's angry breathing shifts into sobs. Speedy and Kid Flash share a look of surprise. Kid Flash goes down with her and comforts her. While this is happening Speedy turns around and inspects the pods, three large escape pods, all available. "This is Speedy, we've successfully secured the escape pods."

* * *

**Aqualad and Omen**

Omen puts up a telekinetic shield, protecting her and Aqualad from an attack by a Gordanian with an energy shotgun. The constant blasts of the weapon rattle Omen's strength, weakening the shield slowly.

Aqualad stands in front of her, and the moment Omen's shield is dropped, he dashes forward, tackling the Gordanian into the wall. Aqualad gets up and hits the Gordanian with a barrage of punches, slowly breaking through his armor as he does.

Another group of Gordanians come running around the corner, before they can get any closer, Omen stops them in their tracks with her telekinesis. She then spins them around rapidly before throwing them towards the Gordanian Aqualad is currently attacking.

Aqualad jumps back at the last second, the mass of bodies collides. "Nice one, Omen. C'mon, let's-"

The large Gordanian roars as it throws all of the others off of it. The Gordanian's armor is heavily damaged, electricity sparking. And the shotgun is damaged beyond repair.

Annoyed, Aqualad aims his fists at the enemy. His fists begin to glow purple, as do his eyes, he then fires an eldritch blast right into the Gordanian's chest, indenting it in the wall, taking it out of the fight.

"As I was saying, let's go help the ex-prisoners," Aqualad finished.

Omen scans the ship, after a moment she finds the prisoners. "Follow me, they're not that far from here."

As the two go, they run into two more groups of Gordanians that they easily dispatch. But they also noticed something: the numbers are getting thinner and thinner.

"Take the next right, go down two doors, then left," Omen says.

Once the two take the right, they begin to hear explosions, gunfire, and roars of pain and anger. Once the final door opens the two see what looks to be a massive armory/shooting range, which has now become a warzone.

There are dead bodies littered throughout the room from both sides, but it seems as though the Gordanians are losing ground. "I'd say because of us," Omen says, replying to Aqualad's thoughts.

He nods. "Makes sense. Come, let's go help them."

Before he jumps over the railing to join the battle, the doors at the other end of the room open. From it emerges a large mech suit, the left arm is a giant cannon while the right is normal, with a blade coming out of the top of the wrist, but normal, nonetheless. Over its right shoulder is a mortar cannon, on its chest are two chain gun barrels, which are beginning to spin.

Acting quickly, Aqualad flies forward at top speed, he headbutts the mech, causing it to lose its footing, the chain guns fire into the roof of the room. Some of the Gordanians turn around and fire their weapons at the Atlantean, but once they do, some prisoners take advantage of this by encroaching upon them.

The mech regains its footing and slams its cannon into Aqualad's side, sending him skidding across the floor. Aqualad shakes his head and looks up to see the mech's blade arm raised, ready to impale him. He just smirks in defiance.

The Gordanian inside the mech tries to bring the arm down but notices that it isn't responding. Confused, it uses one of the cameras to see Omen floating behind the suit, she's using her telekinesis to hold the arm back.

Aqualad jumps forward and punches through the window, hitting the pilot in the face. Panicking, the pilot presses a combination of buttons, activating the anti-intrusion system.

An electric burst goes through Aqualad's system, shocking the Atlantean. The window then begins its self-repair function, Omen quickly pulls Aqualad away, seeing as the window would have severed his arm if Aqualad had stayed where he was.

The cannon on the other arm hums, an ominous green light coming from the barrel. The cannon is aimed at the two.

"We should move," Omen suggests.

Aqualad just nods.

The two leap in opposite directions just as the cannon fires, the force of the explosion sending them flying away. Omen slams arm first into a wall, she feels her shoulder dislocate and lets out a cry of pain.

"Lilith!" Aqualad shouts.

He glares at the mech as it stands over Omen, ready to fire again. He lets out a roar of rage as he flies into the mech, sending them both crashing through a wall and into the next room. Aqualad then coats his fists with giant mystical ice gauntlets and begins to pummel the prone mech. Eventually the pilot ejected from the mech, sending Aqualad away due to the cockpit exploding outward.

Getting up, Aqualad runs towards the Gordanian. He grabs the enemy by the neck and continues his attack, punching the pilot repeatedly. Aqualad then hits the pilot with one more punch, sending the Gordanian crashing into the mech, unconscious.

The Atlantean turns around and runs through the hole, to his surprise he sees some of the prisoners standing around Omen, protecting her from attacks. Aqualad kneels by Omen and gently holds either side of face, Omen responds by gently rubbing Aqualad's cheek and smiles softly. "I take it you got him?"

"I got him," Aqualad looks at her dislocated shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Omen nods. "Yes, I'm fine," she grunts in discomfort as she gets up with Aqualad's help. "Mostly," she taps one of the prisoners on the shoulder. Once it turns around, her eyes glow as she makes a telepathic connection. _"Hi. This ship's about to explode, we're here to take you to the escape pods."_

The alien nods. _"Your assistance is appreciated. But first we must clear the path and assist to the wounded before we can even attempt escape."_

_"One little problem: we don't have much time left. We need to go. Now," _Omen walks in front and fires a powerful blast of telekinetic and telepathic energy, throwing the Gordanians around and knocking them out at the same time.

Aqualad smiles proudly. "Don't you just love her?"

The alien to his left just looks at him and tilts its head, confused as to what Aqualad just said.

Omen turns around, her eyes still glowing as she looks over the surviving prisoners. _"My friends and I are here to help you. This ship is set to explode soon, we have a team securing the escape pods. If you can come with us, we can help you survive."_

_"What then?" _Asks one of the surviving twelve aliens.

_"The Justice League will help you return home; they have ties to the Green Lantern Corps," _Omen replies.

The aliens all deliberate their options. After a moment, one of them steps forward, bowing its head to Omen. _"We thank you for your kindness. We are in your debt."_

_"Well, if you want to be out of my debt just escape," _Omen turns around, opening the door with her telekinesis. _"Come. Let's get the hell outta dodge."_

Aqualad's and Omen's communicators activate. _"This is Speedy, we've successfully secured the escape pods."_

"This is Aqualad, we've got the prisoners and we're on our way."

* * *

**Apex, Robin, and Wonder Girl**

The three of us run down the hallway towards the engine room, following the path Wonder Girl and I had created earlier. On the way there we run into yet another group of Gordanians.

Robin groans in annoyance. "Mother of God, how many of these assholes are there?" He throws down a smoke pellet.

Robin somehow disappears, even with my enhanced senses, but I manage to quickly find him.

Wonder Girl charges shield first into the smoke, her sword raised. I raise my fist and charge up my energy to fire at the Gordanians through the smoke, I activate my infrared vision to avoid hitting Wonder Girl.

As the Gordanians focus on her, I take potshots, hitting every target, I also notice batarangs (birdarangs?) flying in from all over the place, also hitting every target. I wonder, how fast is Robin?

Once the smoke clears, we see one Gordanian left standing, this one realizes the position he's in, so he drops his weapons and runs away. He doesn't get far, a taser shot from Robin makes sure of that.

He chuckles as he drops from the roof. "Man, these guys are easy to deal with."

Wonder Girl smirks as she swings her sword, the blood on it flying off. "Didn't Batman teach you to never underestimate the enemy?"

Robin grumbles and gives her a glare. "Let me have this."

As the two have their moment I stand around awkwardly. Back home I wasn't the most social of people, if I wanted a friend, they'd have to talk to me first. Doesn't help that I've spent my first fifteen years here without any human interaction.

Robin notices my awkwardness and puts us back on track. "All right, that's enough fun for now. We've got a bomb to stop."

Two heavy footsteps echo from down the hallway. Turning the corner, we see two large Gordanians, they both have heavy shoulder pads on their opposite shoulders. They both have large gauntlets with giant fists at the end, once they palm their fists, their gauntlets give off electric crackles.

"Apex, how strong are you?" Robin asks.

"The Evolutionary's always been boasting that I'm stronger than Kryptonians. But I still felt a lot of pain when Mongul punched me. So, take that as you will," I answer.

The two quickly glance at me in shock. "You've fought Mongul?" Robin asks in awe.

I do a so-so motion with my hand. "Less of a fight and more of a me holding him off situation. Haven't seen him since, thank the gods for that," I mutter. Strange, most enemies would attack us while we t-

One of them charges forward and tries to hit me in the face. I fly back before leaping forward, tackling the Gordanian and sending him flying away. Robin bounces along the walls and Wonder Girl flies forward to help him deal with the other one.

My target gets up and runs at me with a roar. I dodge another attack and kick its arm at the elbow, breaking the limb. I then push the attack by tripping the Gordanian, and before it can fall flat on its back, I grab its leg and spin around.

I let go of the Gordanian's leg, sending it crashing through a wall and into the armory. I then go over and pick it up by the shoulder pad and throw it to the other Gordanian, who Wonder Girl decides to throw to me. Great minds think alike. The two crash into each other, both now knocked out.

Robin rolls forward and throws a capsule at them. Once it connects, ice quickly forms, trapping them together. "Liquid nitrogen capsule, handy against fire users and for trapping enemies," Robin explains.

Wonder Girl takes the lead. "Engine room isn't far. Let's go."

Following the path made by the two of us earlier, we eventually make it to the engine room, waiting for us is a surprisingly small group of Gordanians. The three of us stay back as we look over the room.

"Why are their numbers so small? If this room is the center of their plans shouldn't it be more heavily guarded?" Wonder Girl…wonders.

"I'm with you on that one, WG," Robin replies.

I hum. Why would they leave this place inadequately defended? It's entirely possible it could be a trap, maybe some of the bigger Gordanians are hiding, waiting for us to drop in so they could surround us. But that wouldn't work, the Gordanians we see are the only ones in the room.

I look at the two. "Two reasons: one, they're finally running out of bodies to throw at us."

"And two?" Robin asks.

"They don't know that we know about the engine, so they sent most of their forces out, thinking the engine was safe," I finish.

Wonder Girl draws her sword and shield, a large smirk on her face. "Let's prove them wrong."

Wait a minute, are Kid Flash and Speedy really…? they are. I hold up a finger. "Hold a moment," I listen carefully just to make sure. And they are.

"What is it?" Wonder Girl asks.

I sigh and look at her. "Kid Flash and Speedy are arguing about something not mission related."

Wonder Girl scowls before activating her comm. "How're the escape pods looking?" She asks rhetorically.

I can hear their hearts skip a beat.

Wonder Girl grills the two before they're back on track.

_"We're on it," _Speedy shakily replies.

"Good," she turn off the commlink and gives me and Robin a nod. "Ready."

Robin gets a few smoke pellets from his belt. "Ready," the three of us get in crouched positions, ready to strike. "Set," Robin grabs his grappling hook with his other hand. Wonder Girl puts her shield on her back and cracks her knuckles, I coat my fists in energy. "GO!"

Smoke envelops the room, during the chaos Wonder Girl and I jump into the fray, Robin swings towards the engine. Activating my infrared vision, I fire blasts of concussive energy at the Gordanians. Wonder Girl shield bashes one in the face and crouches down to slash another in the legs.

As Robin attempts to hack the computers connected to the engines, he jumps around, avoiding attacks from the Gordanians. "Y'know, this would go a lot faster if you guys would get these guys off me!"

Wonder Girl uses her bracelets to deflect fire from three Gordanians. She angles her arms in such a way that the laser bolts fire back at the Gordanians. "Patience, Robin! You'd do well to have some."

"What she said," I throw some Gordanians towards the ones attacking Robin, knocking the four out. I bob and weave through a wall of laser fire, heading towards five Gordanians, before I can reach them Wonder Girl barrels through them. I pout playfully. "You're no fun."

She smirks. "Revenge for last time."

"Quit flirting and start fighting!" Robin shouts, dodging attacks from the last four Gordanians.

Wonder Girl grabs her shield and throws it. It bounces like a pinball between their heads, knocking them all out. The shield returns to her waiting arm. She punches more Gordanians away and puts her shield on her back. "You're welcome."

Robin connects a wire between his glove and the computer, a holographic screen matching the one over his glove. He mutters things about the engine and timers and other stuff.

Our earpieces activate. _"This is Speedy, we've successfully secured the escape pods."_

_"This is Aqualad, we've got the prisoners and we're on our way."_

"This is Apex, we haven't solved our problem yet," I look at the engine. "Robin's taking some time to get in their computers."

"Hey! Alien tech's not the same as human tech!"

_"How much longer do we have?" _Speedy asks.

"Robin? How much time do we have?" I ask. A timer appears in the corner of the screen. Wonder Girl and I cringe at the time left. "Yeah, not a lot. C'mon Robin, let's get the hell out of here."

"I can stop this," Robin protests.

"Robin, we don't have much time, we need to go. Now," Wonder Girl places her hand on his shoulder.

Robin shakes it off. "I can do this," he affirms.

"R-"

"If I can't do this than half the planet's gone!" Robin shouts.

"Speedy, get your team into the escape pods and get out of here. Aqualad, you and Omen get the ex-prisoners to the escape pods. Wonder Girl, drag Robin out of here," I order.

_"What about you?" _Aqualad asks, through the call I can hear them head towards the escape pods.

"I'm gonna take the ship to space."

"I've-" Robin begins.

Wonder Girl throws him over her shoulder, ignoring his protests. As she walks by me, she places her hand on my shoulder, my orange eyes meeting her blue ones. "Don't die. We just met, after all."

I put my hand on her shoulder and smirk. "Don't plan on it. Besides, we've got adventures in our future, I'm sure of it."

Wonder Girl and I nod before she flies towards the escape pods, still ignoring Robin's shouts of protest.

All right let's do this. I mean, even if I get damaged, I still have an accelerated regenerative healing factor, I'll be fine. Totally fine. I take a deep breath and vibrate through the floor.

Once outside, I see three escape pods, using my x-ray vision I see one with the future Teen Titans, one with the prisoners, and another with some Gordanians. Huh, looks like they can compress. That's weird.

Let's focus on the exploding ship, Daichi.

I place my hands on the bottom of the ship and fly up at a speed greater than sound, a sonic boom going off once I'm above the tallest building. I coat my body in an energy shield as I rise up. Once I break atmosphere and arrive in space, I throw the ship away from the Earth, above me. The force from the explosion sends me tumbling down towards earth, flipping constantly as I do.

Once I re-enter Earth's atmosphere, I catch fire, but it doesn't hurt. Man, I love superhuman durability. After a few minutes I near the street where this all started. Before I connect and create a giant ass crater, I stop myself with flight, a gust of wind flowing out. I then land and look around at the damage done to the city.

Wonder Girl lands next to me and looks around. "Sad to say that destruction like this happens a lot. It's a good thing we're here to stop it."

"Yeah, I guess so," I whisper.

The others stand with us. I notice Kid Flash has a Gordanian dagger in his hand. He notices me looking and flips it around a bit. "Souvenir."

She shakes her head and turns to me with a small smile. "You did great today, Apex. Can't wait to fight with you more in the future."

I let myself smile as well. "Same here, Wonder Girl," I look at the others. "To all of you."

A crowd of people circle around us, shortly after some silence, they break out in applause and cheers. Robin notices the apprehension on mine and Starfire's faces. He lightly elbows me and taps her on the arm. "Just smile and wave, just smile and wave."

I just nod and follow his advice.

People come up to thank us, take pictures with us, and hug us.

Eventually, someone points to the sky. Looking up we see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan coming down. Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Flash are standing on a platform made by Green Lantern.

Batman looks around and nods. "Damage is minimal, very few civilian casualties—none of which are fatal—and you are all alive. Well done."

Everyone but Starfire and I widen their eyes in shock.

Superman steps forward and uses his x-ray vision on the two escape pods. "Gordanians in one, but who's in the other?"

"Their ex-prisoners. We were hoping the Green Lanterns would be able to help them get back home," Kid Flash chimes in.

Green Lantern nods. "We can do that. Just gotta make a call to Oa."

"Regardless, you kids did great. Better than some of your past team ups, am I right?" Flash smirks.

Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad grumble. What's that about? Wait, I think I know. The first ever team up between the three had them fight Mister Twister, guess that happened here, but it didn't lead to the creation of the Teen Titans.

Speedy then steps forward. "You're right. We did great. Which is why I think we should be a team. A permanent one."

The older heroes look at him in confusion, so do the younger ones.

"I don't know about the others, but I'm personally tired of being known as Green Arrow's sidekick, I'm your partner," he continues.

"Of course, you are, Speedy. And I think I speak for all of us when I say none of us ever thought of you kids as sidekicks," Green Arrow says.

"You were saying?" Batman says, crossing his arms in intrigue.

We all stand beside Speedy as he continues. "We did good work as you said, little property damage, next to no civilian casualties, and we took out the Gordanians, no injuries among us. We could be a team, like the Justice League or the Justice Society, but for teenage heroes who need a place to stay and friends in this wild world we live in."

Flash nervously scratches the back of his head. "I don't know. I mean, a team of teenage heroes without any adult supervision or assistance? That's a recipe for disaster."

"Flash is correct," Wonder Woman adds. "I trust you children to be professional with each other, but the fact that there won't be an adult among you..."

The other older heroes look to be agreeing.

Time to take a page from Superboy. I step forward and cross my arms defiantly. "Why are we letting them dictate our next decision? It's simple: get on board or get out of the way."

The others step forward and stand beside me, we all ignore the flash of cameras from bystanders and the news crew that arrived at the beginning of this conversation.

Batman's eyes narrow. "Robin, Wonder Girl, and…" He trails off and looks at me and Starfire.

"Apex."

"Starfire."

"Apex, Starfire. With me, Wonder Woman, and Superman. This conversation will be put on hold," Batman finishes.

Starfire, Wonder Girl, Robin, and I look at each other, wondering what Batman's plan is. Aqualad gives Omen a quick kiss on the cheek and waves goodbye to all of us before he and Aquaman jump into the nearby body of water, no doubt heading towards Atlantis. Kid Flash gives us all a two-finger salute before he and Flash speed away. Green Arrow and Speedy are teleported away, but not before the latter says bye to us all, Wonder Girl in particular. Omen and Martian Manhunter fly away after Omen waves bye to us all. Guess she's Martian Manhunter's partner in this universe, makes sense, now that I think about it.

Green Lantern lifts the two escape pods and flies away, towards Oa, I'd guess.

Batman activates his earpiece. "Watchtower, I'm requesting a teleportation from my location to the Batcave. Superman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Wonder Girl, Starfire, and Apex are with me."

After a moment Batman orders us to stand around him, eventually the familiar feeling of teleporting washes over us.

* * *

**Batcave**

I blink as I stumble in place. Regaining my bearings, I look around and holy shit. I'm in the Batcave. I see the giant penny, the t-rex animatronic, a wall of suits, three different batmobiles, the batwing, and other batvehicles.

Batman coughs to gain my attention, turning around I see the others smiling at my awed expression. I blush in embarrassment as I go with the group to the batcomputer. "So, what's the verdict, sir?"

Robin gives me a weird look as Batman sits at the Batcomputer. "If you're going to be a team, you need a base. Any ideas where?"

"San Francisco? I mean, after today wouldn't we be their heroes?" I offer.

"Makes sense. Robin? Wonder Girl? Starfire?" Batman asks.

"I do not know this planet well, but San Francisco does seem nice enough," Starfire says.

Robin shrugs. "I'm down."

Wonder Girl cups her chin. "The Justice League base is in orbit; the Justice Society's is in New York. Yeah, having a base on the west coast would be a good idea."

"I'll check in with your other teammates. Now we need to talk about where the two of you will stay," Batman continues.

What? Starfire and I share a confused look. "What do you mean?" She asks.

"The two of you need a place to stay," he looks at me and interrupts my attempt at interrupting. "And no, you won't be staying at your base. Starfire can stay here. Apex, Superman has offered his home to you. Starfire, you will also be trained under Wonder Woman," Batman answers.

"Does Wonder Woman operate in Gotham?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No, I operate in Washington DC."

"Then why does Starfire have to stay here?" I continue asking.

"You don't need to know right now," Batman waves off.

Okay. I turn to look up at Superman. "So, will you train me?"

Superman nods. "Yeah. You'll live with my family over in Metropolis during most of the year, We stay at Smallville whenever we get the chance. You'll love it."

"And this plan was made as we were flying to your location. We had actually planned for this at some time in the future, this invasion just made the formation of this team happen sooner." Wonder Woman adds.

So, Superman's already married to Lois in this universe and the Teen Titans were going to be formed at a later point. I look at the older heroes. "Okay, sounds good. When do we go?"

"Now, actually. There are somethings I need to do. Dismissed," Batman turns around and activates the batcomputer, guess that's his way of ending the conversation.

The ladies wave goodbye as they head towards the elevator in the Batcave. Robin uses me as a jumping pad as he walks with them. "Keep your earpiece! We're gonna hang out tomorrow, got it?"

"Got it!" I turn to Superman. "So, lead the way."

"Later, Batman," Superman pats the seat, Batman grunts in acknowledgement.

The two of us fly out of the Batcave. Damn, Gotham really is a terrible place to live. Looking down I hear people shouting and screaming at each other, the sky's filled with smog from the industrial district, and a whole bunch of horrible things.

"So, Apex?" Superman asks bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"What you were saying earlier, about this world being comic books? What kind of stories did we have?" Clark asks.

What do I say? I could talk about some adventures, but I can't say too much that it'd make the timeline FUBAR.

"Well, there's a whole range of stories, some are fun little holiday specials, like Darkseid trying, and failing to kill Santa Claus," he stifles a laugh at that. "Others were more serious, like someone getting such grievous injuries they had to temporarily pass the mantle on to someone else. Which doesn't end well," Knightfall. "And then there are the ones that change the status quo, where stories after it, even years later, are affected by the ending."

"I see. Any about me?"

"Plenty. There's a whole multiverse of stories to choose from. Especially with you involved," I say.

"Is-is Lois in any of them?" He asks, stuttering slightly.

For some reason the Injustice universe comes to mind, I swipe those memories aside. "It really isn't a Superman story without Lois Lane in it, one way or another."

Clark smiles as we enter the airspace of Metropolis, City of Tomorrow, and the atmosphere is the polar opposite to Gotham. Clean air, people helping each other, and the night sky clear to see. He uses his x-ray vision, looking for something. He then turns to me. "Lois is home right now, I told her about the plan with you a while ago. Jon's awake too."

"Jon?" I ask. So, he exists too, meaning Damian has to be out there somewhere too, right?

"My son, he was born last year. He's a smart kid, and he has some of my powers. I guess he isn't as constant as Lois and me?" Clark says as we speed up, faster than the eye of a normal human could see.

"In the Elseworlds you and Lois have a whole bunch of different kids. But Jon's more recent and is a part of the official canon," I answer.

"What do you mean "Elseworlds" and "canon"?" He asks.

"The Elseworlds are stories set in the multiverse, meant to show what ifs. Like, what if you ended up in Soviet Russia instead, or if Batman were in a steampunk 1889 version of Gotham having to hunt down Jack the Ripper. It's insane," I answer.

Superman's eyes widen in shock and intrigue. "Huh, that's…something. What about canon?"

"It's what officially happens. Somethings are constant, no matter the universe, like Lex Luthor being your arch-nemesis, or Flash getting his powers from chemicals and lightning. But somethings can be slightly different depending on the universe. In some, you and Lex Luthor were childhood friends, but something goes wrong, making you mortal enemies," I continue.

He has a weird look on his face. "Me and Lex being childhood friends? I don't see how that would even begin."

"Most of the time it was meant to add more drama to your relationship," I say.

"I see. Come on, we're here," Superman flies towards the balcony of a high-end apartment at the top floor of the complex.

We enter the apartment, inside I see an attractive black haired, purple eyed woman, wearing a Superman shirt and some sweatpants watching a cartoon show with her son. He has black hair and blue eyes; he's wearing a Batman onesie. His hair is also black, and he has the same strikingly blue eyes as Superman.

Lois walks up to me and offers her hand for a handshake. "You're Apex? You look taller than you did on the news. Name's Lois Lane-Kent, this here's my son, Jon. Say hi, Jon."

He gurgles and waves his arms around excitedly. I bend down and wave at him. "Nice to meet you, Jon. My name's Akiyama Daichi. Daichi's my first name."

Jon gurgles some more and pats my hands with his own. I smile at the innocent display. I then get up and turn to the two smiling parents. "I have a room, right?" I ask.

I see Clark in normal clothes. Huh, I don't have anything other than my black, orange, and navy-blue suit, now that I realize it.

"We'll buy you some clothes tomorrow. These seem to be all you have, huh?" Lois says.

I chuckle nervously and rub the back of my head. "Yeah, that's right."

"You can borrow some of Clark's clothes if they fit," Lois and Jon yawn at the same time. She picks him up and gets up. She kisses Clark on the lips before messing with my hair. "See the two of you tomorrow."

After she puts Jon to bed in his room and goes to bed, Clark tells me to follow him. Opening the door at the end of the hallway, I see a bedroom, it's got the essentials like a bed and a nightstand, but there's nothing personal about it.

"This is the guest room," Clark explains. "I wake up early, you know, what with me being a farm boy and all. Just thought you should know. And the stuff in the room you came in will be sent down tomorrow. Though, John Stewart took the Manhunter head to Oa."

I nod. Makes sense, Manhunters self-destruct after defeat, the head in my room is the only one that hasn't self-destructed. "Right. Thanks, Mr. Kent."

"Please, call me Clark. Goodnight, Daichi."

"Goodnight," I reply. He heads to the master bedroom.

I lay in the bed, but I don't sleep, not yet. I stare up at the ceiling. Welcome to Earth, Akiyama Daichi, the center of basically everything.

* * *

**The Next Day**

After getting a call from Robin, I now find myself standing in front of a pizza place in San Francisco, I'm the first one here.

Lois, Clark, Jon, and I went shopping earlier today and got me a whole bunch of things to wear, swim trunks, suits, nice clothes, normal clothes, and everything in between. Today I'm wearing a black jacket, the zipper down to show my black and gray Superman shirt (which will become more popular in the future, after Doomsday), I have on white jeans and black slip-on vans.

After waiting a few minutes Omen and Aqualad are the next ones to arrive. Aqualad's wearing a light blue shirt with dark blue long sleeves and black jeans. Omen has a green blouse on and blue jeans, she also wears open toed sandals, like Aqualad.

"Daichi! Hey!" Omen calls out.

"Hey! Uh…" I hate pretending.

"Lilith. Lilith Clay. This here's my boyfriend, Garth," Lilith properly introduces.

I raise an eyebrow at Garth. "That's it. Just "Garth"? No last name?"

He just shrugs. "It is what it is. The others not here yet?"

"Hello friends!"

Turning around we see Wonder Girl and Starfire walking towards us, ignoring the glances from either gender, mostly men.

Wonder Girl is wearing a red Wonder Woman sleeveless shirt and blue skinny jeans, she has sneakers on. Starfire has a white jacket, the zipper not all the way up, revealing a purple shirt underneath. She's also wearing skinny jeans and sneakers.

Wonder Girl walks up to me and lightly punches me in the stomach. "Nice to meet you, Daichi Akiyama, a mutual friend of ours has told me so much about you. I'm Donna Troy."

I lightly tap her shoulder. "Hope everything they said was good, Ms. Troy."

"It was. I hope everything they said about me was all good," she cheekily smiles.

"All good," I nod.

"What are they doing?" Starfire asks.

"Flirting," Garth bluntly states. The two of us back up a little. When did we get so close to each other? "So, what's your name? I'm Garth, and she's Lilith Clay."

Starfire tilts her head in confusion. "You already know my name. It is Koriand'r, which translates to Starfire in your tongue."

Donna chuckles as she places a hand on Starfire's shoulder. "No. They mean your human name, so you can blend in."

Starfire nods vigorously. "Oh! Yes! Then I am Kory Anders, I am from Hawaii, I like to spend long hours at the beach—which is why my skin is orange—I enjoy sports, and I go to Happy Harbor Highschool!"

"Your name alone would have been fine, Kory," Donna laughs. "But the rest is great. Thank you for telling us."

"Wait, you already go to a school?" I ask with an arched brow. That was quick. But isn't it Summer? Why would she already be enrolled?

Donna looks at me with an arched brow. "I thought you knew. B-Man go-"

"WE HAVE ARRIVED!"

Turning the corner comes Robin and Speedy. Robin's wearing dark green cargo pants, he also has sneakers on. He has a light green open hoodie on with a blue shirt underneath. Speedy's wearing combat boots, grey jeans with tears in the knees, and a red, long-sleeved shirt.

Speedy looks at the group before letting out a sigh of annoyance. "Of course, he's late," he then looks at me and Kory. "Oh! Name's Roy Harper, you guys?"

Kory shakes his hand. "Kory Anders."

He and I fist bump. "Akiyama Daichi, nice to meet you."

Robin stands in between the both of us. "And I'm Dick Grayson."

I tap him on the forehead with my index and middle finger. "What up, Dick?"

He rubs his forehead. "It's all cool, Itachi. Oh, it's a reference."

"Right," I then turn to Donna. "What were you talking about with Dick's boss?"

Donna nods and reaches into her pockets. "You're going to school."

That wasn't what I expected.

I mean, with my IQ I could probably challenge even Mister Terrific. But in the end, it makes sense, I look to like a teenager, so I should go to school, like teenagers normally do.

"Where did I put that damn ID?" Donna whispers as she searches all of her pockets.

Dick chuckles and pulls the ID out of his pocket and gives it to me. I look at the picture to see it's from the picture Clark took of me earlier today. I thought it was for my file for the Justice League, guess not.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Dick pushes the card into my chest, by reflex I hold it.

Donna grabs a hold of my hand with the student ID, she pulls out her own with her other hand. "If it makes you feel any better than you should know that most of us go to Happy Harbor. Dick and Wally are the only ones who don't."

Garth throws his arm over my shoulder, showing me his student ID. "Would you look at that, you already have four friends at school, and you haven't even started yet. Talk about lucky."

I look at them all curiously. "Why would I be mad?"

Their eyes widen in surprise and they all share relatively shocked looks.

Roy then scratches the back of his head and looks at me. "We thought you'd hate it. What with you living in space for fifteen years and now having to go to school. That and who doesn't hate going to school?"

I shrug. "Like you said, I lived in space for fifteen years. School's a new experience, one I'm ready to take head-on."

Lilith hums. "Huh, and here I was thinking you'd be overdramatic about it. Like Garth."

"I do not get overdramatic!" Garth shouts.

Lilith just smirks and points at the Atlantean. "Case in point."

"I'm here! I'm here! Sorry I'm late."

Kid Flash comes running at normal speeds towards us, he eventually skids to a stop in front of the group. He's wearing a button up, long-sleeved yellow shirt over a white one with a Flash lightning bolt on it, blue jeans, and red and white hi-tops.

He grabs Kory's hand and kisses it. "Wally West. And who might you be, beautiful?"

"Kory Anders."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful woman," he praises. Donna just makes a noise of annoyance as she puts her head in her hand and shakes her head. Wally turns to me and offers a fist bump. "Wally West. You?"

"Akiyama Daichi. Daichi's my first name," I cheekily answer.

Wally has a fake smile on his face. "Really now?" He then spins around and claps loudly. "What are we waiting for? Let's go get some pizza!"

"We were waiting for you," Roy deadpans.

Lilith looks at her watch. "We've been waiting for ten minutes now."

Wally deflates, his arms flapping at his sides as his mouth becomes a deep frown. "Well I'm sorry, but my Mom wanted me to do my chores, then Dad wanted me to run some errands for him."

"Even with your super speed you could've gotten all of that done in at least two seconds," I point out.

Wally points at me and stutters but doesn't say anything. He then gives up and walks inside the pizza place, the rest of us follow behind.

After getting our private booth (courtesy of one Dick Grayson. Having rich friends can be useful, it seems), and ordering our food we all start conversing about the battle at San Francisco.

"So, any idea if the aliens from before are home now?" Wally asks, taking a bite out of a slice of peperoni pizza.

Dick nods. "Yeah, Green Lantern came over to the cave to inform us that they're all home."

"And the Gordanians?"

"The Guardians are holding a trial for them," Dick answers.

"Awesome," Roy says, taking a bite from some pasta he ordered. "We're a team now, right? I mean, it's obvious at this point."

"You're right. But where are you going with this?" Garth asks.

"Well, what do we call ourselves?"

"Titans/Teen Titans," Donna and Wally say at the same time.

Donna and Wally glare at each other, waiting for the other to back down so their idea could be the team name.

"Why "Titans", Donna?" Lilith asks.

"Because that is what we are, Titans of the highest order. The eight of us, without any assistance from the Justice League or Society stopped an invasion of a city with minimal damage. That's what makes us Titans."

Lilith nods. She then turns to Wally. "And you?"

"I mean, "Titans" is dope and all, but we're still teens, think about it, the media wouldn't put so much pressure on us as long as they remember that, would they?"

"I see your point, Wally," Donna says. "Regardless, we are still heroes, what we do will always have pressure on us. We may as well face it from the get-go."

"Yeah, but a name can do a lot, even when you don't notice it. Think about this: a league is more or less a collection of people or nations united for a common cause. A society is a collection of people living together. Right there you can see the difference," Wally argues.

"And if you look at it, the Justice Society does seem to be closer than the Justice League," Dick agrees.

"Besides," Roy chimes in. "Didn't the Titans of old get their asses handed to them by Zeus and the Olympian Gods? I don't know about you guys, but I don't want that in my future."

"Yes, the Titans of old were defeated by Zeus and his siblings, but we aren't those Titans, we are something more. With our actions we can change the view on the word," Donna argues.

"While we may be kids, we still have a responsibility on our shoulders. And with a name like the "Teen Titans" we might not be taken as seriously," Lilith adds to Donna's argument.

"What do you guys think?" Donna asks, the four of them turn to us.

"I'm with Donna and Lilith. Titans," Garth says.

"I'm with you guys. Teen Titans. Let's have some fun while we be superheroes, yeah?" Roy announces.

Kory looks between the two groups; I can see nervousness clear in her eyes. May as well interject with my meta-knowledge.

"I've got an idea," I announce, everyone turns to me. "How about we call ourselves the Teen Titans for now, and once we get old enough, we drop the Teen and become the Titans? Sound good?"

Wally and Donna look at each other with narrowed eyes before looking at me, they both nod. "Sounds good."

I clap my hands in victory. "Great! Donna, I'm gonna experience pizza for the first time. Give me one of your slices."

I reach for the slice. Donna's hand shoots out and wraps around my wrist tightly, oooooh, that hurts, yup, I'm gonna feel that in the morning. "Donna, please," she twists my arm. "Ow, ow, ow! Okay! Okay! Let go, please."

She smirks and releases my arm. I bring my arm to my chest and shake it, my healing factor immediately kicks in. Roy leans towards me, chuckling. "Yeah, don't mess with Donna's food, she's protective of it."

"Protective!? That's putting it mildly!" I flex my fingers. Yeah, all good.

Wally jerks up, catching us all by surprise.

"What? An enemy attack nearby?" Kory asks, her hands and eyes faintly glowing green.

"No," Wally says. We all ease up, looking at him, he says nothing.

"What?" Lilith asks.

"We need a battle cry!" Wally says excitedly.

We all stare at him, confused on what he said. "Why?" Garth voices the confusion.

"Think about it: with a battle cry we tell villains to beware, the Teen Titans are here. And we get to show the other teams how united we are. Hey, we might even start a trend," Wally explains.

"Weird. Wally tends to be an idiot with anything other than science-" Dick begins.

"Hey!"

"But this idea of his isn't half bad. God, can't believe I said that." Dick breaths in shock.

"You got anything on your mind, Wally?" Lilith inquires.

"I've got one," he lifts up his drink. "Teen Titans Together on three."

"One.

"Two.

"Three!"

We clink our drinks together.

"Teen Titans Together!"

* * *

**A/N 8/19/2020**

**It feels great to come back and fix these previous chapters, looking back at them made me feel angry with myself for letting all of these errors and inconsistencies slide. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you two Saturdays from now, you beautiful people! **


	3. Lights, Camera, Action!

**A/N 8/28/2020**

**So, by the time I'm writing this (look at Author's Note) it's a day after Gamescom 2020, and holy shit, **_**Dragon Age 4**_**! Now, there wasn't a lot shown, but the concept art was great and the love for the game was palpable. Not only that, we got to see what's most likely the party and we got two new characters introduced: Bellaria and Davrin. Man, I just hope it isn't like **_**Anthem**_** or **_**Mass Effect: Andromeda**_**, otherwise I'd give up on BioWare. **

**But yeah, also by the time I'm writing this, the Battle of the Teams Arc was completed yesterday, so when these six updated chapters are posted expect the seventh one two weeks later. **

**All right, that's enough from me up here, let's get on with the story!**

* * *

**Lights, Camera, Action!**

Getting hit with a kryptonite blast feels weird.

Metallo stops his attack, so I decide to play along. I feign weakness, holding up a hand in fear as he walks towards me, confident he's won. _"Heh, gotta say, you're strong, but you ain't as strong as the big guy,"_ he boasts.

Down the street Superman is fighting Parasite, who happened to absorb some of his power, so now he's staying in the air, keeping Parasite pinned down with heat vision or super breath. Mainly super breath.

_"So, what's your name? Superboy? Superlad? Eh, probably something stupid,"_ he kicks me in the chest, forcing me onto my back, and places a foot on my chest, standing in victory.

"A-Apex," I mutter.

He brings his cybernetic ear down, stopping right above my head. Big mistake. _"I'm sorry, can you say that again, I didn't hear you."_

I smirk. "Apex."

His optics widen in surprise at the strength behind my words.

Before he can react, I headbutt him, sending him flying into the sky. I fly up, hitting him with a continuous blast of heat vision as I fly towards him. Once I catch up, I grab him by the neck, halting his momentum immediately.

He fires at me constantly, hoping the kryptonite would do something. It doesn't. He looks at me, his digital eyes actually looking frantic. Huh, guess a machine _can _feel fear._ "W-what the hell are you? kryptonite should be making you weak."_

I smirk a little. "Hate to break it to you, but I'm not Kryptonian."

I fly downwards, holding Metallo out. Metallo slams into a currently occupied Parasite. The attack sends the two through the street, into the sewers, Parasite's knocked out while Metallo's trying to get back up, even with snapped legs and arms bent out of place.

"Thanks for the assist," Superman says, rubbing his head. "Take out Metallo's kryptonite heart, it's the only way to apprehend him without having to hear him constantly complain."

I jump down into the sewer. As I approach, Metallo shoots kryptonite beams at me as he backs up frantically. _"No. NO! Stay back! I SAID STAY BAAaaa-"_ I pull his kryptonite heart out.

That seemed a little brutal, like _Mortal Kombat _brutal.

Then again, I've seen worse.

I telekinetically lift the two, and the kryptonite, up out of the sewer just to find a crowd of people applauding. I look at Superman, hoping for help. He just smiles and backs up. I fully expected the crowd to applaud him, instead they were clapping for me. I have no idea what to do.

I feel my face heat up. I'm not used to getting this type of praise, not anymore. What do I do? Eventually the applause stops, and the crowd splits to show Lois and one Jimmy Olsen.

He's wearing an open red jacket over a black and green button up shirt, with some khaki cargo pants and green and white vans. His red hair's wild, and I see the signal watch on his wrist. He has a camera over his face as he takes pictures of me standing over the two, and some of me and Superman standing together.

Lois then steps forward, placing a recorder just in front of her face. "This is Lois Lane-Kent, with the Daily Planet. I have a couple of questions for you: but first and foremost, who are you? Superboy, perhaps?"

I grumble at that. I can hear Superman chuckle and I see a light smile playing on Lois' face. I'm adamant about not taking that name, something that's become a running joke among the three of us for the past month now. Hell, even Jon's taken to calling me Superboy in his own way, but I can't correct him, he's a baby, that'd be a jerk move if I did.

A lot has happened over the month since the invasion, we've all hung out whenever possible, Lois and Clark have been sure to teach me about pop culture, though more Lois, since she doesn't know my story yet, and our base, which I'm pretty certain is Titans Tower, is currently being built. Though, I'm pretty sure it's almost done by now.

I shift my focus back to my debut interview. "It's uh, Apex, actually."

"Apex?" Jimmy tries out. "Does that mean something else in Kryptonian?"

"Kryptonese, actually," Superman corrects.

I shrug. "I'm not sure. Besides, I'm not Kryptonian, I'm Human."

"How'd you get your powers?" Lois asks. Damn, she's a really good acting like I never told her any of this, I bet if she never became a journalist, she easily could've become an actress or something along those lines.

"I was just…evolved by an alien. No big deal," I answer.

"And is this alien who gave you your powers still out there?" She asks.

"I'm not sure actually," I look down, thoughts of The Evolutionary and my time on the Ship begins to plague my mind.

Lois seems to take note of this and changes the topic. "A month ago, in San Francisco there was a group of known teenage heroes, two of which were entirely new to the superhero scene. Are you one of them?"

"Yes, actually. The other one, she's bound to make her debut sooner or later, actually," I answer.

Superman puts a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry Lois, but Apex and I have to be somewhere. Maybe you can continue this interview later?"

Lois nods determinedly. "Definitely. And hey, I do love taking scoops from under my husband's nose."

The two have knowing smiles on their faces. Superman then takes to the sky. "I'm sure you do, Mrs. Kent," he turns to me. "Apex, bring Parasite and Metallo with us, we can drop them off at Stryker's."

The two of us take off. I turn to Superman. "So, where are we headed?"

"San Fran. Your base has finally finished construction," he answers.

"Whoa, really?" I say in awe.

He chuckles as we take a quick detour towards Stryker's Island, the prison of Metropolis. At the front of the prison we find a group of guards ten strong and what looks like the warden waiting for us.

Once we land, the men move forward and place a power dampening collar on Parasite and a chip on Metallo's neck. They then put the two in restraining devices and head towards the prison. One of the men walks towards the telekinetically held kryptonite with a metal box, I bring the chunk of radioactive rock towards him. He closes the box and heads inside.

Once the guards leave, the warden turns to us, he walks forward and shakes Superman's hand. "Thanks for taking 'em down, Superman."

"Oh, it wasn't me who took them down, Apex did," Superman corrects.

The warden turns to me and studies me with a critical eye. I stand tall and look him in the eyes. He then walks in front of me, grabs my hand, and shakes it. "Thank you for taking 'em down, Apex."

"Yeah, no problem," I nod.

"It was great meeting you again, but we've gotta go," Superman says, already taking flight.

"Got it. Keep up the good work you two," the warden salutes and heads inside the prison.

As we fly to San Fran, I can feel Superman look at me. No, not at all uncomfortable. Not one bit.

"Apex is a confident guy. But Daichi's really awkward. You've already got this secret identity thing down perfectly," Superman says. "Now, about those glasses…"

"I don't need glasses Superman. I use my speed to vibrate my face in a way that makes Apex and Daichi look like two different people. You should try it sometime," I say.

"I already do, but you can never be too sure," he then looks at me with a studious air. "I didn't mean it as an insult. More as an…observation. So, I have to ask why are you awkward? If you're fine with answering, of course."

I sigh as we fly over…Vermont? I honestly forget about that state half the time, like how I forget March is a month most of the time. "Well, I didn't grow up with humans, or anyone that looks human for the matter, so I'm not exactly the best at socializing."

"What about the aliens you grew up with?" He inquires.

"I didn't really grow up with them, they were all adults by the standards of their species by the time I came along. The Evolutionary also had a rule that none of them would interact with me outside of his experiments," I take a deep breath. "I'm not used to being around people who actually care anymore. Or having friends."

"Hey, at least you have a group of friends now. When I was your age, I only had two real friends, Lana Lang, and Pete Ross," Superman replies. He has a faraway look in his eyes as he reminisces about his time at Smallville.

"I'll give you that. Donna and the others have been great at helping me acclimatize. But school's not at all what I expected," I sigh in frustration. "I mean, there's no challenge whatsoever, how am I supposed to get better if nothing tests me?"

"Oooooh?" Superman draws out. I look to see a smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised in interest. "Donna and the others have been helping you?"

Where's he going with this? "Yeah. Donna and the others."

"_Donna_ and the others?"

This is getting annoying. "Yes. Donna and the others. I've said this twice already, does your invincibility give you a literal and metaphorical thick skull?"

"It's just that the others have names, you know. Garth, Lilith, Kory, and Roy. And yet, you specified Donna's name only," he lazily flies in a circle around me. "Why's that?"

My face heats up again. Seriously, how have I not accidentally fired my heat vision?

Superman laughs at my discomfort. "You should go for it."

"What?"

"You should go for it," he repeats. "When I started working at the Daily Planet Lois enthralled me. Sadly, she was dating John Corben at the time. You know who that is?"

I nod. "Yeah, Metallo."

Superman nods before continuing his story. "He then got in a nasty car accident; his body wasn't found at the scene. Lois was devastated and I had no idea what to do. I wanted to comfort her but that just didn't seem right, you know. Eventually with some help from my Ma and Pa I was able to be there for her. As a friend," he says.

"Wow, you friend zoned yourself. Didn't know a guy could do that," I comment.

He laughs. "Neither did I. Eventually Metallo surfaced, while I was fighting him as Superman, she had found out John and Metallo were one in the same. Our fight took us to his base, which was the lab he was created at. She then came along and broke up with him rather…dramatically."

"What do you mean "dramatically"?"

"She drove a heavily armored vehicle and crashed it and him into the nearby lake. Thankfully, kryptonite doesn't have the same effect on the environment as other radioactive materials," Superman says.

"Yeah, just on you, because of your biology," I reply. "How does this relate to me and Donna?"

"Just be there. If you really do want something between the two of you then you have to go for it. And if it's meant to be, it's meant to be," Superman finishes.

I stare at him then look ahead. Definitely wasn't expecting relationship advice from Superman when I woke up in this universe, but hey, here we are.

Eventually we make it to San Francisco and using our telescopic vision powers we're able to see Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Aquaman, Aqualad, Martian Manhunter, Omen, Green Arrow, Speedy, Batman, and Robin waiting for us. Flash and Kid Flash being the only ones not here yet of course. huh, even Black Canary and Red Tornado are here. Wonder why.

Martian Manhunter is the first to notice us. He waves us down. We land a distance away from the group.

Superman puts his hand on my shoulder and leans towards my ear. "Remember, just go for it."

We walk towards the group. Wonder Girl runs forward and hugs me as we near them. I ignore the smirks on Robin, Aqualad, and Superman's faces.

"Apex! How are you?" She pulls back, her arms still around my waist and mine around her upper back.

Oh man. She's really close to me. Calm down, Daichi. This is normal. This is just two friends saying hello. "I-I'm good. How're you, Wonder Girl?"

"I'm great, thanks for asking. Come, I'm sure Speedy's dying to hug you, it was all he could talk about," Wonder Girl leads me towards the group, her arm still around my back. I try to fight down the blush growing on my face.

"No I didn't!" Speedy denies. "If anything, Aqualad's the one wondering."

Aqualad rolls his eyes in annoyance. He walks towards me and hugs me. He then turns to Speedy. "Really, Roy, you've gotta stop being so macho man."

Green Arrow laughs, he quickly stifles his laughter once Speedy glares at him. "Right, well, I'm just gonna say: isn't it ironic that the last two groups here are the ones with super speed?"

Donna places a finger on her chin with her free hand, the other arm still around my back. "He does have a point. What took you two so long?"

"Parasite and Metallo were working together. We then dropped them off at Stryker's," Superman answers. "Oh, and Apex made his official debut."

"Dude, awesome!" Robin bounds forward and fist bumps me. "How'd it feel?"

"It was…interesting. Now I'm out there. I mean, there was that whole speculation on who I was from the pics from the Gordanian invasion, and now people officially know who I am. Well, they know who Apex is," I explain.

"Yeah, it's always like that," Speedy adds. "At least you weren't Robin, that was a shit show."

Batman lets out a quiet grunt as Robin grumbles. "Newspapers were saying things like "Batman, Predator!" Or "Batman Doesn't Care About our Youths!". It even got on the news stations outside of Gotham."

"People were even talking about it in Atlantis," Aquaman adds.

Aqualad scratches his chin sheepishly. "Made becoming Aqualad pretty damn awkward."

"What caused the outrage to calm down, then?" I ask.

"Well, people saw how effective I was, so that quieted things down a lot," Robin boasts.

"That and more teenage metahumans started popping up," Speedy adds.

"And the world's slowly becoming a more dangerous place, so it became the accepted idea that everyone who wants to be a superhero should be given the chance," Omen adds.

"Within reason, of course," Wonder Woman counters. She gives Batman a light glare. "Most teenage heroes start when they're _teenagers_. Not when they're still children."

Robin lightly blushes in embarrassment. He started pretty young in this universe then.

Omen's right about one thing though, this universe will get more dangerous as the years go on. Hell, Doomsday hasn't even made an appearance yet, neither has Trigon or any Lantern Corps other than the Greens, Blues, and Sinestro's people, granted rumors of the Reds were swirling when I was last in space. Man, I hope we're ready for them.

Two blurs of red and yellow stop just in front of us, kicking sand all over us. Starfire actually growls in annoyance. "I do not like sand. It is all coarse, and rough, and irritating. And it gets everywhere."

I look at Starfire in surprise. Did she just…

Wonder Girl smiles. "Omen visited for a sleepover; we watched a lot of movies."

"Hey, hey, hey! Guess who's- what's up with you two?" Kid Flash points at Wonder Girl and me.

I look to see we still have our arms across each other's backs. I quickly snake my arm back to my side. "Sorry," I whisper to Wonder Girl.

She just smiles in understanding. "It's all right."

Kid Flash claps his hands before spinning on a foot. "Whatever. What's our base look…like? Whoa."

Looking ahead we see Titans Tower in all its glory.

A giant T shaped tower made of steel, glass, and a special white stone similar to the one at the Hall of Justice and Watchtower; ten stories tall. A lush green yard is seen around the island, and we find ourselves standing at our own private beach. In front of the entrance is a marble fountain and white benches. That alone is impressive, and it's just the outside. Batman then begins to walk towards the building, the rest of us following.

The first floor looks to be a lobby, a desk in the center of the room, an elevator in the back, and some plants and other things to make it look comfortable. Using my x-ray vision, I see weapons and traps waiting within the ceiling, walls, floors, desk, and even behind the pictures and in the plant pots. But I bet there are even more defenses I can't see. We enter the massive elevator going from the first floor to the center top floor.

This room looks similar to the Outsiders base in _Young Justice _and the Titans Tower from the _Teen Titans _cartoon from 2003. A giant, red half circle couch in the center of the room with a large table with a T on it in front of it. A kitchen area to our right. And what looks like a teleporter station to our left.

Batman walks forward and activates a hologram showing the blueprint of our base. Black Canary and Red Tornado stand on either side of him.

"You've already seen the first floor, there isn't much to it," Batman begins the explanation. "The second floor is where your monitor room and training grounds are. There Black Canary will train you in hand-to-hand combat."

So, Black Canary's our trainer, definitely reminds me of _Young Justice_. And if I'm right then Red Tornado would be our den mother, or liaison, I guess.

"That explains why Black Canary's here, but why are you here Red Tornado? No offense," Omen says.

_"None taken, Omen. I will be the team's den mother and liaison with the Justice League. I will report to Batman on the team's activities and provide support when needed,"_ Red Tornado answers.

Yup. They've got their _Young Justice _roles.

Kid Flash raises his hand. "Question: so, outside I saw four giant glass panes going up and two going out, so do we only have six rooms in this whole tower?"

"No. There are multiple rooms in six sections separated by staircases, each floor depends on which section of the tower you are in. If you look up the stairs behind you, you'll find this floor doubles as the living room and temporary bedrooms," Batman answers.

"What do you mean, "Temporary bedrooms"?" Kid Flash asks.

"We don't plan for any of you to stay here permanently until you're old enough and if you want to. But if you kids want sleepovers then boom, stay here instead of at Queen Manor where you leave your mess," Green Arrow says.

"Sorry," Kid Flash apologizes as he and Robin look down in shame.

"So, I will still live at Wayne Manor, and Apex will still live with Superman?" Starfire asks.

"Yes," Batman then highlights another room. "The room to my right acts as the mission room and the armory. There I will give you your mission briefings," he notices the excited looks on mine and Speedy's faces. "But only after they've been properly vetted by me."

"So, we'll only go on League sanctioned missions then?" Wonder Girl asks.

"Only when needed. I understand that you would want to go on adventures of your own. So, you will be able to find your own missions available, just be sure to not take more than you can handle, the Justice League or Society won't always be there to help," Batman warns.

He worries too much; we can easily handle whatever the universe throws at us. Maybe. Hopefully. Yeah. We totally can. I need to stop thinking about this.

Batman highlights one of the other rooms on this floor. "The room to my left is your infirmary and meditation chamber as well. Those of you who need it, such as Omen or Aqualad can use it to your advantage," Batman says.

"The _right _way," Aquaman says, he fixes Omen and Aqualad with a strong, stern look. Aqualad coughs and looks everywhere but at Omen, his mentor, or Martian Manhunter.

"And the third floor?" Robin asks.

The final floor is highlighted. "The third floor will house your library and study hall. There will also be a science lab available," Batman answers.

"A study hall? C'mon, we're superheroes, we should be focusing on stopping the bad guys, not how to solve the Pythagorean theorem," Kid Flash says in annoyance.

"I'm sorry, did you forget your superhero name, _Kid _Flash?" Flash points out. "You do remember that the only way you can keep this up is if you keep your grades up, I promised your parents that, y'know."

"Uncle Barry," Kid Flash whines.

"Dude. Burn," Robin laughs.

"The same goes for you, Robin," Wonder Woman says with folded arms.

Robin grumbles as Kid Flash laughs at him.

Batman highlights the island, here a fifth underground floor can be seen. Guess there's more. "And this is your hangar. Here you'll find a Javelin built for the team. It also doubles as an aquatic vehicle."

"Nice," Aqualad says. "So, uh, now what?"

"Now your mentors and I return to the Watchtower. Red Tornado and Black Canary will stay," the League head to the teleporters. Before he steps on it, Batman turns around. "One more thing: who will be your leader and who'll be the second in command?"

We all look at each other. Huh, guess we never thought about that. "I say Robin," Kid Flash says. "I mean, he did pretty great at leading us during the invasion."

The others nod. "Makes sense. But who'll be second in command?" Speedy asks.

Wonder Girl wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Apex will!"

What?

"(_Nani?)_" I ask aloud.

"During the invasion Apex kept a more than cool head and was willing to sacrifice himself to save us and the city. I believe that qualifies for second-in-command, does it not?" Wonder Girl explains.

"I, uh, well, we all kept cool heads, so that first reason doesn't really matter. And I offered to take the ship to space because I have a healing factor, I would've survived even if the explosion did any damage. If anything, you or Speedy would make better as second in command," I try to counter.

"And he's humble too," Wonder Girl says, ignoring my counter arguments.

"All in favor say aye!" Kid Flash quickly shouts.

Most of them say it, Speedy's the only one who doesn't. Traitors, the rest of them.

Batman just nods before stepping on the teleporter. Superman and Wonder Woman are the last ones on. Superman gives me a cheeky smirk and a quick thumbs up while Wonder Woman looks at me with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Oh, she's going to kill me.

Black Canary claps her hands, getting our attention. "All right, kiddos, let's train!"

* * *

Kid Flash slams into the ground back first.

"_Kid Flash, fail,"_ the AI announces.

"Anyone know what his mistake was?" Black Canary asks as she helps him up from the ground.

"He hit on you," Speedy mumbles.

"Ooh! Kid Flash underestimated your abilities, which led to his swift defeat at your hands!" Starfire guesses.

Black Canary smiles at her way of saying things. "Bingo."

Starfire looks confused. "What is a "bingo"?"

"It means you got the answer," Omen answers.

Starfire smiles brightly.

"Advice from the Canary: I find it best to actually overestimate your enemy. That way you can plan for anything they throw at you. Granted, that plan works best the first time you encounter them. But it's entirely possible they don't show all of their abilities in one go, so keep overestimating until you're sure," Black Canary advises.

Wonder Girl tilts her head in confusion. "But isn't that dangerous? If you always overestimate your enemy won't you always be too cautious to do anything effective? Especially if they aren't as powerful as we think."

Black Canary nods. "It can be at times, yes. But you know what they say, "better to be safe than sorry". Overestimating the enemy has saved my life countless times in the past. And with the world we live in you should know that being cautious tends to save more lives than just using your invulnerability to tank through damage," Black Canary answers. She looks at me when she says that last bit.

"What?" I ask.

"The Gordanian ship," she simply answers.

"I understand it was stupid of me to do that, but it was the only option we had at the time! Besides, my healing factor works at an incredibly fast rate, the damage was minuscule at best," I say.

"How fast?" Robin inquires.

"One-time Lobo put his hook chain, thing through my leg, I healed within two minutes," I answer.

"You fought Lobo/How'd his chain go through your leg?" Robin and Aqualad ask at the same time.

I shrug. "The Evolutionary had it custom made. Pretty sure he used a forge in the heart of a star to make it. And I didn't really fight Lobo per se, more, he and I were hunting something together and I kinda made him mad. But if I wanted to fight him, I'm sure I can take him."

"Prove it."

We all look at a battle-ready Black Canary in the training circle, she does a "get over here" motion with her hand. This could be fun.

As soon as I step in the circle, a hard-light barrier is put up between us and the room. A holographic screen can be seen on the outside, on it is Black Canary vs Apex. Three red bars become two yellow bars which then becomes a green bar, the word "Go" then replaces the green bar.

Black Canary strikes first with a low sweeping kick. I jump over her legs, but while I'm in the air she stays low and snaps her two legs out towards me, going for my stomach. Because I'm in the air the kick sends me back into the holographic wall, although I don't feel anything. She gets up, runs towards me and hits me with a spinning jump kick which only succeeds in making me take a step back.

As she lands, she goes for a palm strike aimed at my nose, I grab her wrist. I spin in place and throw her at the wall at the opposite end of the ring. As she regains her bearings, I do a low sweep kick of my own, hitting her legs out from under her. Her arms catch her fall, she then flips back up, hitting me with a kick on top of my head as she lands on her feet.

She goes for a haymaker, but why? She should know it doesn't work, especially if she goes for my face. Oh, there it is. As I'm distracted by her fist, her feet strike out, tripping me. Just before I hit the floor back first, I catch my fall as well, instead of flipping up I roll a distance away.

As I begin to get up, I notice her leg coming out to kick me in the chest. I can work with this. I grab her leg and lift it up quickly, she falls back first.

"_Apex wins,"_ the AI announces.

I help Black Canary up as the hard-light barrier dissipates. "Nicely done, Apex, I wonder if the rest of your team is as skilled."

"Thank you, Black Canary," I mutter. I get out of the circle and stand with the others. As I join the group, Wonder Girl gives me a smile as she lightly punches my shoulder once I stand next to her.

"You did great, you should be proud," Wonder Girl compliments.

"I'm always proud of my wins, but I still learn from them," I reply.

"All right. Starfire, you're next," Black Canary calls out.

For the next hour Black Canary trains the rest of the team as the rest of us watch in a group. Well, almost all of us are in a group, Red Tornado's standing a distance away.

Starfire does well, but she makes the mistake of holding back, especially with one of her punches, Black Canary uses this to her advantage by grabbing Starfire's wrist and flipping her on her back. Black Canary wins.

Wonder Girl goes next. It's a surprisingly tough battle but Wonder Girl wins by stepping into Black Canary's defense, she puts her foot in between Black Canary's and trips her. She pushes Black Canary down by her shoulder to make sure she falls. Wonder Girl wins.

Robin follows after Wonder Girl, he loses, but barely. Robin's an acrobat through and through, so strength isn't his biggest thing, but speed and bouncing around, oh, he's got that in the bag. As he's in the air, Black Canary palm strikes his stomach, which sends him to the ground, he groans in pain as he rolls around. Black Canary wins.

Omen surprisingly shows a good amount of fighting skill. Is that rude? Well, to be fair, she mainly uses her mind to fight, not her body. She does great though.

Omen avoids most attacks, only striking when it's one hundred percent sure her attack will connect. Eventually Black Canary dodges, punches Omen in the side and sweeps her legs out from under her. Black Canary wins.

Aqualad goes next, he uses his strength to his advantage. He blocks most of her attacks, like Omen, he only hits when he's sure it'll connect. Eventually Black Canary hits him with a move that forces him to slide back a bit. He uses this to his advantage by charging forward, hitting Black Canary with a shoulder charge, knocking her over. Ooh, that looks like it hurt. Aqualad wins.

Finally comes Speedy, this fight was a close one, not surprisingly, after all, they've known each other for years. They counter each other's moves almost perfectly, but eventually Black Canary finds a way past Speedy's defense, using this advantage she headbutts him then hits him with a spinning kick that sends him onto his back. Black Canary wins.

"You all did great, but you could all still use some improvements. Some more, but great nonetheless," Black Canary compliments.

Robin and Kid Flash high-five, but they quickly wince in pain and grab their sides. Aqualad, Speedy, and Omen all share smirks. Wonder Girl gives Starfire and I thumbs up, I reply with my own and a confident grin.

Red Tornado steps forward. _"Alert. Black Canary, we are needed at the Watchtower, immediately."_

Black Canary nods before turning to us. "Right. Well kids, enjoy the rest of your day, or whatever."

The two leave and head to the elevator, going up to the teleporters on the top floor. We all stand around awkwardly, now what?

An alarm sounds out, we all run to the mission room, where a holographic screen shows a bank currently under attack. "Bank robbery, nice," Speedy comments.

"Who is it?" Omen asks.

A feed from a few minutes ago shows the inside of the bank. A man at one of the teller desks suddenly gets up, much to the confusion of the bank teller. His clothes are destroyed in a bright flash of light. He now wears a black and white suit. The body's mainly black with a white pointed circle, white gloves and boots, a white cape, tights, and belt, and a white gladiator-like helmet. Doctor Light.

"No idea. C'mon, let's go show him how the Teen Titans do things," Speedy says. He turns around and heads towards the elevator, we follow him.

Well, time for the team's official debut. Let's see how this goes.

* * *

One teleportation later and we find ourselves at the end of the street, two cop cars driving around the corner and heading towards the bank at high speed.

A beam of light hits one car, sending it flying, me and Kid Flash save the cops in the car. Another beam of light heads towards the other car, Wonder Girl jumps in front of it and puts her shield between the beam and herself, the beam of light reflects off the shield and hits the pavement, destroying a section of the road.

Doctor Light steps back, his triumphant smirk becomes an annoyed frown. "The hell is this? Wonder Girl, Robin, and…Superboy? I, Doctor Light, wanted the Justice League, not the Super Friends!"

I growl in annoyance. "Hey! It's Apex! Not Superboy!" I fire a blast of energy at him.

Surprisingly enough he fires his own blast, locking the two of us in a beam struggle, good thing I have friends.

Speedy nocks an arrow. Using the bright light from the beam struggle as cover, he fires what looks to be an electric arrow, it skirts off the beams. But once it connects with Doctor Light he explodes in a flash of light. What the hell? W-was that a light clone? Was I just tricked!? Dammit, the Evolutionary did say I tend to forego my super senses when in a fight.

A ball of light quickly floats in front of me, I quickly close my eyes. I hear the others shout out as the ball of light explodes. He throws flashbangs too, great.

I open my eyes to see a ton of smirking Doctor Lights. "Which one am I? Hope you're smart enough to know even that, Superboy," he taunts.

I growl in annoyance as I focus my super hearing. Fifth one down, two to the left. I use my superspeed and grab him by the neck, lifting him off the ground.

"Found you," I whisper as I keep him aloft.

I feel something on my side. Looking down I see him hitting me with the bag of money. He can't be serious.

I look up to see him fire a beam of light point blank. It doesn't hurt my face thanks to my energy absorption and durability, but the bright lights point blank does hurt my eyes.

Reflexively I drop him to rub my eyes. I can hear him run away, but the sound of a bola flying over me and the grunt from him dropping tells me he doesn't get far. When I finish rubbing my eyes, I see the bola glowing red, heat radiating off it. He's actually melting through it. Kind of cool, I'll admit, I've always wanted to use my energy as a heat source, but I have heat vision, so there's no reason.

We all just stand next to each other as we watch Doctor Light slowly melt through the bola. "What's it made out of?" I ask Robin.

"Special steel alloy. Really great against people with low-level super strength. Doesn't melt easy, also."

One of the cops stands next to us, watching him as well. "That's the guy who destroyed my car. Damn, I must suck."

"Don't beat yourself up, his energy blasts have a surprising amount of strength behind them," Wonder Girl says.

"Speaking of, Apex, are those his powers or is it the suit?" Omen asks.

I use my x-ray vision to see circuits and high-tech happenings a layer under the top layer of his suit. "It's the suit."

"He's free," Kid Flash says.

We look to see Doctor Light running away, money flying out of the hole in the bag he had made when heating up his suit.

"He isn't the smartest of people, is he?" Starfire asks.

"Nope. You could say he isn't the brightest," Kid Flash runs forward, knocks Doctor Light out, and runs back to us, hand extended to Robin. "Cable please," Robin gives him one. "Thank you."

He runs around the unconscious Doctor Light; he takes off his gloves and helmet. "Hey! Souvenir!" He then hands Doctor Light to one of the cops. "And here's a present, from me to you."

"Thanks, KF. Hey, that giant T shaped building belongs to you guys, right?" The cop holding Doctor Light asks.

As if sensing someone was taking their job, a news van stops right in front of us, a reporter and cameraman jump out of the side of the van. "Betty Redgrave, with the Channel 52 news. What is this group of young heroes called? Who is this villain? And most importantly, who are you?" She puts her microphone right in front of Starfire's face at the last question.

"Me? Oh, my name is Starfire. Hello, nice to meet you!"

"Right, and the villain?"

"He calls himself Doctor Light, he can control light to a certain degree," Robin answers.

"And your team?"

"Oh, we're the Teen Titans," he answers.

"And how long has this team been active?" The reporter continues.

Robin scratches the back of his head. "That's a question. Technically you can say we first became active during the invasion that took place here last month. In reality today's our first day as an official team."

"So, we can count on you to be San Francisco's very own superhero team?" She asks.

"Well yeah. Although we'll still have missions around the world, but yeah, San Francisco's gonna be our stomping grounds I guess," Robin answers.

The reporter turns to the camera. "There you have it folks, San Francisco's very own superhero team, the Teen Titans. I for one can't wait to see what happens next, back to you, Tom."

The cameraman then lowers the camera and shakes each of our hands. "Name's Ned. I can't wait to see what you guys do next. I'll keep an eye out."

Betty turns to Ned. "Ned, c'mon, we gotta be at the station as soon as possible," the news van leaves. While the interview was going on so did the cops, leaving us alone on the street.

"Now what?" Speedy wonders.

"We teleport back to base, I guess," Robin replies.

"How?" Omen says aloud.

"What do you mean "how"?" Robin asks.

"No one's at base," she clarifies.

"Shit. KF," Robin orders.

Kid Flash runs to base, a moment later we find ourselves at Titans Tower. "Done," Kid Flash says.

"That was our first villain," Starfire says. "Are they all so disappointing?"

"Oh, no," Aqualad replies. "There're guys like Black Adam, Sinestro, and Darkseid to worry about."

Speedy then chimes in. "Just be glad Darkseid isn't a weekly bad guy."

Starfire looks at the others in awe. "You have battled _the _Darkseid and lived?"

"Not us particularly. Last time he was here—which was a little over two years ago—we were mostly focusing on rescuing civilians or fighting Parademons. We've never fought Darkseid or his generals. We've never seen them, actually," Wonder Girl answers.

"I see. How often has Darkseid attacked?" Starfire asks.

"He's attacked Earth three times, all a few years apart. But the League's fought him in space a couple of times. They always come back really beat up after those missions," Robin says.

"Hell, one-time Uncle Barry couldn't even walk for an hour. For a speedster that's a looong time to not be moving when awake," Kid Flash says. He then takes off his cowl and heads towards the couch, but before he sits down, he speeds around to the consoles and grabs a controller. "Who wants to get wrecked in _Mortal Kombat_?"

Speedy smirks as he heads towards the couch, taking off his mask and hat as he does. "You're on, Wally."

Dick takes off his mask and joins the two. Lilith lowers her hood and face mask and heads towards the kitchen, Aqualad following. Starfire awkwardly stands around before deciding to join Dick, Wally, and Roy.

Donna gets my attention by lightly elbowing my side. "Come with me, I want to check something out."

She grabs my hand and basically drags me to the elevator. It takes a while for me to realize what's going on, once I do, I finally find my footing and walk a little behind her. "What do you need me to see?"

We enter the elevator; she presses the button to the third floor and finally turns to me to answer my question. "What is your understanding of human literature?"

Huh, that's a question. Now that I think about it, I don't remember much about my previous life regarding novels and such. I turn to Donna. "Well, Lois and Clark had me read some books over the last month like _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, _To Kill a Mockingbird, _and _Mrs. Dalloway._ Why?"

"And your English class?"

"Okay, _Frankenstein, _too. Again, why?"

"Because I feel as though there's a barrier between you and the rest of us due to your upbringing, and I've now made it my mission to break that barrier down," Donna palms her fist and looks at me, a fire in her eyes.

I sigh deeply. I'm not gonna change her mind about this, am I? "So, you wanna have me read books as the first step of your plan?"

"Literature, film, pop culture. Those are the first steps in my plan, once those are met, we'll do more," Donna states, she wraps her arm around my shoulder and pulls me close, her other arm sweeping overhead. "Doesn't that sound grand?"

"Yes, Donna, it does," I reply with a small smile. The doors to the elevator open and she immediately shoots out, dragging me with her. "Whoa!"

Donna stops immediately and due to the momentum, I slingshot forward, I use my flight to stop just an inch from one of the bookshelves. Wait a minute, is that…whoa! It is!

Reaching forward, I pull out the first volume of _Dragon Ball,_ and going down the shelf I see the rest of the series, and below it is the _Dragon Ball Z_ manga volumes. Huh, who knew Batman's aware of the Dragon Ball series. Looking around I even see _Dragon Drive, _a series I feel like should have gotten more attention. Or maybe it did, and I just wasn't paying attention.

A copy of _The Odyssey_ is thrusted into my face. I gingerly pick up the epic poem and look to see Donna standing with a whole stack of books carried by one arm. It sways way too much for my liking. The tower begins to fall. I quickly catch the falling books, holding half the stack myself.

I look at Donna with wide eyes. "These are a lot of books, Donna."

Donna nods as she smiles. "And you have superspeed, Daichi. I fully expect you to finish all of them by the end of the week."

She really wants to see this done, doesn't she? I notice her smile falter slightly as I continue to study her "Why do you want to help me with this, Donna?"

Her smile finally falls. "When I came here, to Man's World, I was lost. Don't get me wrong, Diana, Alfred, Dick, and Bruce did her best to help me, but what with them being on the Justice League, or being the ambassador of Themiscyra, or protecting Gotham, or making sure Bruce doesn't die because he forgot to eat, they never got a lot of time to really teach me. Seeing you and Kory getting used to these new lives of yours reminds me of myself when I first came all those years ago. That's why I want to help."

"You do this with Kory too, then? Why don't you help both of us at once?" I ask.

"It's better if I go one at a time, that way I won't confuse the…lessons, I guess you can call them," Donna answers. She then frowns as she looks at the books. Why does my heart feel weird? I don't like the look on Donna's face. "Do you not want my help?"

Well, if I wanna get closer to her I gotta start somewhere, don't I? "Yeah, I greatly appreciated your help, Donna. Thank you."

Her smile returns, and with it my heart feels better. God, I can't be in love already, can I? She goes to one of the tables and drops the books on it, I swear I hear the table creak. "Well, these books aren't going to read themselves. I'll be back in an hour to see where you are. Good luck!" She speeds to the elevator and goes to join the rest of the team.

I look at the table, it's absolutely covered in books. I then look at the stack of books in my arms, there's no space on the table for all of these books. I put some on the table, but a vast majority of them go to the ground, surrounding the table in nothing but books.

Aw hell, what did I get myself into?

* * *

**Belle Reve**

**One Week Later**

After a thirty-six-hour drive, Doctor Light—real name Arthur Light—finds himself at Belle Reve, a prison for metahuman supervillains and normal supervillains. As he heads to his cell, he ignores all the jeers and jabs from the other inmates.

A week later, Light finds himself in the cafeteria eating alone at a table, trying to ignore the bits of food thrown at him by Captain Boomerang.

Eventually, Light breaks.

"Must you throw away what little food you have for nothing but amusement!?" Light shouts. Everyone in the cafeteria quiets down, watching the interaction.

Captain Boomerang, or George "Digger" Harkness, has a large grin on his face as he looks around at his group. "Told ya he'd break," he gets up and walks towards Light, arms extended out and a cocky smirk on his face. "What're ya doin' here? Belle Reve's a place for actual supervillains, not wannabes."

Harkness is a man in his mid-thirties with red hair that leads into sideburns and brown eyes. He wears the same orange jumpsuit as everyone else in the prison. Even though he doesn't have powers, he still wears a collar around his neck, as a way to keep him—and the other non-powered supervillains—under control.

"I _am_ a supervillain! Did you not see my battle against the teenage superheroes?" Light argues.

Harkness throws his head back and lets out a bellowing laugh, one arm over his stomach, a leg extended out to help keep his balance. "Your fight!? YOUR FIGHT!" He breaks out into another fit of laughter. Eventually Harkness calms down, but he barely gets the next few words out. "The most ya did was blind 'em! Hell, ya lost your money when ya burned through your suit, ya dumbass! And besides, they're kids! They ain't the Justice League!"

Harkness' comment makes most of the prisoners break out laughing. Light can even see some of the guards chuckling.

Light growls as he gets up and walks towards Harkness. "You haven't fought them; you don't know how powerful those children are!"

"They ain't as strong as the League, I'll tell ya that, mate. I mean, they're bloody kids, toss somethin' shiny on the ground and they'll be distracted long enough for a takedown shot," Harkness replies.

"Hasn't Kid Flash defeated you before, Harkness? If I recall, he's beaten you at least twenty times during his career."

Everyone turns to see a small, pale white man. His most defining feature being that the top part of his head is clear, making his brain easily visible. He wears a special collar, showing that he is a metahuman.

Harkness growls as he points at him. "The hell does_ that_ mean, Simon?"

Simon just looks at Harkness with boredom in his eyes. "You know exactly what that means, Harkness. If Kid Flash can beat you, then this team of superhero teenagers can easily humiliate you."

Harkness growls in anger before marching towards Simon. Before he could get any closer, a giant of a man stands in his way.

Looking up, Harkness sees a large redheaded young man towering over him, standing between him and Simon. A collar is over his neck as well, although Harkness doesn't see how it can be useful, with his size, Mammoth could still throw a good amount of people through walls.

Although intimidated, Harkness keeps a brave front. "Outta the way, Baran. This is the only warning ya gettin'. From one Australian to another."

Baran just blows air out of his nose as he glares down at Harkness.

Eventually a feminine form appears from Baran's right. A young woman, also a redhead, stands next to him, a collar around her neck as well. "You really don't wanna do this, Harkness. From one Australian to another," taunts Selinda Flinders, sister of Baran.

From Baran's left comes a man in a specially made containment suit that stops him from using his powers but also keeps him stable. "Sit down, Harkness," orders Nathaniel Tryon, otherwise known as Neutron.

Simon stands in front of the group, a smirk on his face. "You heard the man. Psimon says, sit down."

Harkness just holds up two fingers. The people at his table get up and walk towards them. The other prisoners in the cafeteria watch with bated breath.

The collars of Simon's group, Harkness' group, and Light's all activate, shocking all of them into submission. The head guard leans on the railing as he looks down on the villains. "We've had enough of your pissing contest, go back to eating your meals, inmates."

Harkness flips off the guard before begrudgingly going back to his table, his group following him.

The siblings and Tryon turn around and head to their table. Before moving, Simon looks at Light, a curious look on his face before he turns around and heads to the table.

Light returns to his table, but he doesn't sit down. Instead he grabs his food and sits with Simon's group, ignoring the looks they aim his way. "Thank you for the assistance. Dr. Arthur Light."

Simon looks at his hand for a moment before deciding to shake his hand. "Dr. Simon Jones. These two are Baran and Selinda Flinders, and that's Nathaniel Tryon."

The five eat in silence for a few minutes before Light turns to them. "The teenage superheroes were surprisingly effective."

"You don't need to explain that to us, Doc. I thought fighting them in groups of two or three was difficult, now there's eight?" Tryon replies.

"You've fought some of them before?" Light asks.

Tryon nods. "They call themselves the Teen Titans. I've fought Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad a couple of times, yeah. It wasn't fun."

Simon then speaks up next. "And I've battled Wonder Girl and Omen before. I would have defeated Wonder Girl if Omen hadn't appeared in the last minute."

"We've fought Batman and Robin, and Green Arrow and Speedy a couple of times," Selinda says.

"What about the other two? The orange girl and Apex?" Light asks.

Simon shrugs. "They're new. We don't know anything about either of them, especially the orange girl. I think she calls herself Starfire."

"How do you know all of this?" Light asks.

Simon points up behind Light. Turning around, he sees a television showing the news. Apex and Superman had just stopped a bridge from falling, saving everyone on it.

Light growls as the camera focuses on Apex. He turns to the group. "Let's break out of here."

They all stop eating and share looks.

"Uh…you do know Belle Reve's one of the most secure places, right?" Selinda asks.

Simon quiets her with a raised hand and looks at Light. "How good are you with technology?"

"I have a doctorate; I believe that speaks for itself."

They all smirk.

"This might work out for us. Don't go to sleep tonight, we have a plan," Simon says.

* * *

It's now night, the prisoners are all in their cells.

After making new allies, Light finds that Simon is actually in the cell next to his. Once the guard making the rounds walks past their cells, Simon sneakily hands a device to Light.

During his year at Belle Reve, Simon has slowly been gathering small pieces of tech to build a key capable of unlocking the cells, doors, and collars, and with Light's genius regarding technology his plans can now move ahead at a faster pace.

After a few minutes the lights on the device activate. Light pushes some buttons and places the device to his neck; the collar deactivates and then falls down. He hands the device back to Simon. "It works."

"Nicely done," Simon compliments. Light then hears his collar fall down. Simon then places the device on the lock and just walks out. Light attempts to ask him what he's doing, as a guard walks towards Simon, surprisingly enough the guard just ignores the two. "I'm a telepath, remember?" He unlocks Light's cell. "Come, let's free Baran and Nathaniel."

The two then walk past the guards without a care in the world, first they reach Tryon's cell. He gets up once he sees the two. "Uh, I don't see my suit with you guys. You should get it first, then you can free me."

Simon unlocks the cell and still places the skeleton key on Tryon's suit. "This way they can't track you or shock you."

The three head to Baran's cell, which happens to be in a different section of the prison meant exclusively for the villains with super strength. Mammoth gets up and heads towards the bars of his cell. "About time."

Simon unlocks the cell and deactivates the collar. He opens his mouth, but the radio from a nearby guard interrupts him.

_"Hey, someone go check out Jones, Flinders, and Tryon's cells. For some reason we can't track them."_

"Which Flinders?" The nearby guard asks.

_"The male."_

The guard looks into the now empty cell, still believing Baran to be in there. "Uh, command? He's just sleeping."

_"That's not what our computers are saying. It says his collar's been deactivated and his door's been opened without proper authorization. The same goes for Jones, Tryon, and Light,"_ the person on the other end of the radio says.

_"This is Giovanna, Light and Jones are also in their cells,"_ another voice announces.

_"I don't like the look of this. Increase security on Selinda Flinders' cell," _the first voice says.

Light turns to the three. "We won't get far if we aren't prepared. We should go to the armory; Tryon and I can get our suits."

Baran grunts. "What're you gonna do? Don't you need your gloves and helmet to be useful?"

Simon stands between the two before an argument could breakout. "We don't have time for this. Besides, Light's right. Even if he can't do much, Tryon can be a force to be reckoned with. Let's go."

The two begrudgingly stand down before following Simon to the armory. As they move, they're careful to not be caught on camera, which is rather difficult for Baran, but they make it work.

Eventually they make it to the armory, there Light and Tryon put on their specialized suits, becoming Doctor Light and Neutron, respectively. Though Light still doesn't have his helmet or gloves. Baran and Simon put on their suits as well, becoming Mammoth and Psimon. Mammoth puts his sister's suit in one of his massive pockets.

The three sneak their way into the women's section of the prison, on the way there, they see a number of guards hurrying towards Selinda's cell.

Once they approach the cell, Psimon uses telepathic illusions cloak their presence and let Selinda speak freely.

Selinda gets up and saunters to the bars, once she reaches them, she holds her arm out expectantly. Mammoth reaches into his pocket and pulls out her suit, he then hands it to her. "Thanks," she murmurs. "Now turn around."

A few minutes later, Selinda's hand reaches for the skeleton key. Psimon turns around and removes her collar and unlocks the cell. She then stands next to her brother. The group all looks at the guards who currently believe she is still in her cell.

Mammoth palms his fist and smirks. "We gonna kill 'em?"

"No. We need to get out as quietly as possible," Doctor Light says. "If we want to defeat the Teen Titans then we should make our escape as quiet as possible."

Mammoth growls and stands over Light. "Who made you the boss?"

"Enough. If you hadn't noticed, Mammoth, they're starting to catch on," Psimon interrupts. Looking at the guards, the five can see they are indeed starting to wise up, some go to the men's section to check on the cells of the other four. "Doctor Light's right, we need to get out of here as quietly as possible."

Mammoth glares at the two before grunting in defeat. He turns around. "How do we get outta here?"

Psimon scans the minds of some of the guards. "There's a docking bay a few floors below us, there we can take a swamp boat, use the night and environment to cover our escape."

"What're we waiting for? Let's go!" Neutron shouts excitedly.

"Wait, what about the cameras?" Dr. Light asks.

"I can release some radiation, make 'em go haywire," Neutron answers as he does just that.

"I better not have three balls after this," Mammoth gruffly whispers.

"Dude, gross," Shimmer says, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Children be serious," Psimon gently chides.

The five stealth still stealth their way through the prison, deciding that one can never be too careful when breaking out, even with a walking nuclear reactor and a telepath.

Once they make it down, they find a few guards waiting, although these guards are on duty for guarding the swamp boats, not keeping an eye out for the prisoners. Psimon gets on one of the boats, he signals for the others to get on. It wobbles dangerously once Mammoth gets on, but it eventually settles.

Once they're a good distance away Psimon drops the telepathic cloak, breathing deeply and wiping the sweat off his forehead. He turns around and looks at the others, a victorious smirk on his face. "We've escaped."

Neutron and Mammoth let out loud whoops of joy and laugh. "We're outta Belle Reve, baby!" Neutron shouts.

"Now what?" Shimmer wonders.

Psimon nods towards Doctor Light. "Ask him."

Neutron and Shimmer look at Doctor Light, Mammoth just mutters and looks away. Doctor Light looks down and thinks before looking back up. "First I gather some materials, enough to make a new helmet and gloves."

"And after that?" Neutron asks.

"After that we defeat the Teen Titans," Doctor Light declares.

Shimmer and Neutron share a look, they both then grin, although Neutron's can't be seen. Mammoth actually grins as well and looks down at the Doctor. "For once I agree with ya. What do we call ourselves?"

Doctor Light again thinks about it. He never thought he'd get this far, honestly. Hell, he half expected them to betray him by dropping the cloak around him, leaving him to the wolves while they escape. If he was being completely honest, he's fearful.

Wait. Fearful. That's it.

"We call ourselves the Fearsome Five. And our first mission is to defeat the Teen Titans. From there we move up until _we _are the ones calling the shots," Doctor Light declares.

Neutron leans back. "Hm, Fearsome Five. Yeah, I can work with that."

Shimmer thinks it over before nodding. "I agree. Brother?"

"Whatever. I just wanna kill the bird and the little archer," Mammoth grunts. "And maybe I'll see how strong Apex is."

"I believe we're all in agreement then. Light, you'll be our leader then," Psimon announces.

Mammoth leans forward, causing the boat to shake. "Hold on! You've always been the leader! Why give it to him?"

"Because he's the only one to have fought all of them, if anything he's the most qualified to be the leader," Psimon glares at Mammoth, his eyes glowing purple. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Mammoth looks at Doctor Light one more time before sitting down, again causing the boat to shake. "No," he grumbles.

Psimon smiles. "Good. Now, off to the nearby STAR Labs."

Doctor Light smirks as he makes up plans to defeat the Teen Titans.

Oh, he knows exactly what he got himself into.

* * *

**A/N 8/28/2020**

**Fuck. **

**So, when writing this, I had found out that Chadwick Boseman (**_**Black Panther, Da 5 Bloods)**_** died of stage four colon cancer. That really fucked up my mojo. For the four years he was fighting, he gave us such great performances, now **_**that's **_**a superhero. **

**If you've got Netflix, watch **_**Da 5 Bloods**_**, if you've got Disney Plus, watch **_**Black Panther**_**. Watch his other films. **

**Thank you, Chadwick Boseman for your great performances and your strength. Rest in Power. **

**Chadwick Boseman**

**1976-2020**


	4. Blinding Lights

**A/N: 8/29/2020**

**So, if everything goes as planned, today's when the overhauled chapters are posted, if not, then next week. But it shouldn't be too hard, all I've gotta do is make edits to an already 10,000-thousand-word minimum chapter. **

**I've already got the number of chapters for the Nevermore Arc decided, so I'm gonna start working on that alongside **_**Triumphant**_** and the overhaul to **_**A Sinister Past**_**. **

**Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**Blinding Lights**

It's been a little over a week since Doctor Light, and during that time we've all gotten to know each other better. We'd hang out here in the tower, or some of us would team up with our mentors.

Yesterday, Superman and I took out some terrorist with Aquaman and Aqualad, we hung out after at Atlantis. It was cool, I got to meet Mera and the Atlantean Princess, Andy, they're both awesome. Those of us who go to Happy Harbor High School also hang out. It's…nice, having friends that are both my own age and in the same line of work as me.

Right now, Wally, Lilith, and I are the only ones at the tower, me and Lilith are making some food, pasta more specifically, for when the others arrive while Wally's ranting about something he has to do at school.

"Sooo…why are you mad again?" Lilith asks. "Daichi, can you hand me the chicken?" I telekinetically hand it to her. "Thanks."

"Because my parents want me to do extracurricular activities! I mean, look at what we do, I can barely juggle school and my Kid Flash duties, now I have to add school newspaper to that list!?" Wally shouts.

I chuckle and shake my head in amusement as I cut some onions. "Wally, you have super speed, you can do your homework and get people out of a burning building all at the same time. Hell, you did that Tuesday, didn't you?"

"Ugh, fine, you're right, but still!" He drops his head onto the counter, covering his head with his arms as he groans. "And the leader of the club doesn't help at all."

"Why?" Lilith asks.

Wally perks back up. "Well for one, she apparently knows about me and my "reputation" as a "slacker". Two, she's super serious about this, I mean, come on! It's a school newspaper, it's not like this'll determine your future. And three! Oooooh three. She keeps giving me shit for being the nephew to Iris West!" Wally begins to vibrate as he lets out angry noises and spasms. Lilith and I stop to watch him, she pulls out her phone and takes a picture, she sends it to the group chat.

I resume cutting the onions. "What's her name?"

"Linda Park."

I jerk in shock. The knife goes down on my fingers, creating an indent in the shape of my index and ring fingers in the blade. Lilith looks over my shoulder at the knife. "You okay, Daichi?"

"Uh, yeah, just remembered something. So, have you tried actually talking to her," I say, changing the topic of the conversation.

"Uh, duh! But she somehow resists the West charm! There's gotta be something wrong with her," Wally cups his chin as he begins to think.

Do I want to? This is his future were talking about. Then again, this could be a universe where they don't end up together, _Young Justice _is a prime example of that. But there's nothing about Artemis here, hell, the files for Sportsmaster and Tigress barely have anything on them.

"See, Wall, that's your problem, you expect girls to swoon and throw themselves at you. Instead, you should see her as a person, that way she won't be breathing down your neck so much," Lilith advises.

I look at her with a small grin and a raised eyebrow as I put the onions in the pot. "You give some good advice."

She shrugs. "Well, I wanna be a psychiatrist so I may as well start now, and what better starting point than girl problems?" Lilith then turns to me, a smirk on her face, Wally then mimics her. I don't like this. "Speaking of… You and Donna? What's going on with that?"

Dammit. "What do you mean?"

Lilith points at me with the ladle. "Daichi, we all know how smart you are, don't play dumb with us."

"Look, there's nothing going on between me and Donna, all right? She's just helping me acclimatize to Earth, nothing more," I explain.

"Like how Dick is helping Kory "acclimatize"?" Wally wiggles his eyebrows.

"What? Donna's helping Kory, she told me," I say.

"Well Donna told me that Dick came to her hoping to help Kory, and she agreed," Lilith replies.

"When'd this happen?" I wonder.

"The day after Doctor Light," Wally answers.

"Donna really wants some alone time with you, doesn't she?" Lilith asks, mixing the sauce again. "What do the two of you do when your alone, huh?"

"We read books, watch movies, and all other normal human things," I reply, crossing my arms in indignation.

"Yeah, watching movies," Wally leans in close, too close. "Alooooone."

I hear the elevator doors open on the first floor, using my x-ray vision I see that it's Donna, Kory, and Garth coming up. "We've got incoming."

Lilith and Wally share a smirk before looking back at me. "This isn't over," Lilith warns.

I grumble in annoyance as the elevator doors open, now most of the team's here, including Donna. Yay. I mean, I'm not upset she's here, I'm just upset that it'll give Wally and Lilith more ammo against me.

_"Oh, it will,"_ Lilith says through a psychic link. As I glare at her, she just smiles. She then walks towards the newly arrived trio, hugging Kory, and Donna before kissing Garth. "Hey you guys! How are ya?"

"My science project's a bitch, Donna's the only one who helps, the other two just constantly hit on her," Garth yawns.

"It's annoying," Donna then comes over and hugs Wally and me, we all notice that her hug with me lasts a little longer, I can feel Wally and Lilith's smirks. "But hey, being with you guys brings back all of my energy, thanks."

"It's no problem, really. Donna, if you want these guys to stop bothering you, you can tell me, I'll make sure they don't," I offer.

Wally claps my shoulder. "Yeah, Donna, Daichi here's more than willing to help you with _any _problem you have, no matter what."

"Wally's right, Don. Thanks to Dai, a lot of my problems have been solved quickly and easily," Lilith smirks.

Garth looks confused for a moment, but then he has an evil grin. "You should have seen it, when we stopped those terrorists yesterday Daichi did most of the work."

_"Garth, I hate you,"_ I mentally tell him.

He mentally chuckles. _"Hey, is that what you say to everyone that helps you?"_

Kory still has a confused look on her face. "Um, yes! Daichi has been instrumental in helping me feel like I belong, even if he and I arrived on Earth at the same time," At least her compliment isn't putting me on a pedestal, take notes, guys.

Donna just smiles as she pulls me next to her. "You hear that Dai, everyone's starting to see how amazing you are! Isn't that great?"

I feel myself blush as I look down. "Heh heh, yeah, great," a holographic screen pops up next to me. "Teleportation request from Dick and Roy," I announce, thankful for the change in topic.

After inputting the commands, the teleporters activate, Dick and Roy then come in, their domino masks off and Roy holds his hat in his hand. The two limp towards the kitchen area, dropping into the seats next to me.

"Who'd you guys fight?" I ask.

"Bane and some new guy calling himself Brick," Roy answers. "What's cooking?"

"Pasta," Lilith and I answer.

"Nice," Dick compliments. "So, Doctor Light escaped from Belle Reve," we all stare at him in surprise. "He broke out with Neutron, Psimon, Shimmer, and Mammoth about a week ago."

That's one way to announce it. "How long have you known?" I ask.

Robin sways in his seat as he hums. "The day after they escaped."

I glare at him; my eyes begin to glow red as I feel my heat vision flare up. "And you didn't think to tell the team? Or me at least? I am the second-in-command after all."

Dick just shrugs. "Didn't seem important. Besides, we took him out pretty easily last time, why're you losing your mind?" He opens his eyes to see me glaring at him, looking around he sees the others also glaring. "Was that the wrong thing to do?"

"Wow, you really are trained by the World's Greatest Detective," Wally says sarcastically.

"Look, Dick, if you wanna be the leader you gotta tell the team when something important happens, it's what a leader is supposed to do," I inform him.

"Right, I'll remember that for next time. Is the food ready?" He asks.

"It was barely put on the stove, don't pull a Wally," Lilith says.

"Hey!" Wally shouts in indignation.

An alarm goes off, holographic screens pop up next to all of us. "Another bank robbery from our old friend Doctor Light, this time he's got friends," I announce.

"Just like Dick said, Mammoth, Shimmer, Psimon, and Neutron. We gotta deal with them," Wally replies.

"Yeah, problem: most of us don't have our suits, and it'd take a while to change into them," Garth points out.

Wally's now in his Kid Flash suit, I also change into mine. "Not all of us. Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, and I'll be the vanguard, see you guys in a bit," I say.

Kid Flash, Robin, and Speedy head to the teleporters, the others head to the changing rooms. Before I can join the three, Donna pulls me into a hug. "Good luck, and be careful with Psimon and Neutron, okay?"

I nod and give Donna a thumbs up. "Of course. Oh, and don't worry, I'll try to avoid knocking Mammoth out before you get there."

Donna smiles before heading towards the changing room. I get up and jog to the teleporters, ignoring Kid Flash's smirk as Speedy and I fist bump. "Ready?" He asks.

I crack my knuckles. "Always."

* * *

I duck under a swing from Mammoth, his fist smashes the pillar behind me apart into countless pieces. I jump up, hitting Mammoth with a double-fisted uppercut, sending him off his feet and into a cop car. While he's down, Kid Flash hits him with a barrage of punches, slowing him down greatly.

Neutron comes into ruin all of our hard work. He blasts Kid Flash into the stairs and then morphs his energy into a ball and throws a little bomb to Speedy and Robin. The two roll out of the way, but once they land the street below them becomes glue-like, courtesy of Shimmer.

As I fly over to rescue them, a quick mental jab sends me reeling, right into Mammoth's waiting hand. Mammoth then slams me into the street a few times, after the third one he throws me into the glue trap. Another blast from Neutron has Kid Flash joining us.

Doctor Light then fires a light beam at us, I do my best to move in front to take the brunt of the attack. Kid Flash covers his eyes with his arms. "Dammit. Robin, you got a-"

"He's gone," Speedy interrupts.

"WHAT!" Kid Flash shouts.

Doctor Light's attack stops as he lets out a yelp of pain, Robin bounces off of him after planting some sonic sticky bombs on his chest plate. The explosion deafens us for a period of time and sends Doctor Light flying back into Neutron, sending the two down the street. Kid Flash places his hand on the glue-street and vibrates, freeing the three of us but his nose starts to bleed. "That was annoying," he comments as he wipes the blood away.

"You're telling me, Rob and I never got time to recover. One fight after another," Speedy replies.

"Such is the life of a superhero. DODGE!" I shout.

The three of us roll away as Neutron fires a blast at where we were, some rocks slam into me, the dust getting into my eyes. Just as I clear my eyes, I see a giant fist coming at me, once it connects, I fly above the bank.

As I flip through the air, I see the rest of the team flying towards us. Their eyes widen in surprise once they see me flipping, I then stop in place. "Nice of you to join us. Your assistance is greatly appreciated."

"These guys causing trouble even for you?" Aqualad asks.

"Mainly Neutron, Mammoth, and Psimon. Doctor Light and Shimmer, not so much," I casually reply, floating next to them as we watch Robin, Kid Flash, and Speedy fight.

"Neutron and Mammoth are pretty strong. And Psimon's a powerful psychic," Omen whispers.

"Yeah," I nod. "Doesn't help that Psimon hits me with quick mental jabs that throw me off, lets Neutron or Mammoth get in some really effective hits."

Starfire looks down to see Kid Flash, Robin, and Speedy barely avoiding attacks, all while being pushed back by the five. "Speaking of friends, shouldn't we be helping?"

Omen nods. "Right. Babe?"

Aqualad grins as his eyes and fists begin to glow purple. "Already on it."

He flies down, his fists out, he then slams into Mammoth, flying down the street with the brute, Donna and Starfire follow. Just as Omen's eyes glow green, Psimon backs up and yells in pain, he then recovers and glares up at Omen, his eyes glowing purple.

I then drop-down feet first onto Neutron, indenting him into the stairs. Before he can recover, I grab him by the legs and throw him into the brick wall of a pawn shop across the street, some of the bricks land on him.

Shimmer yet again turns part of the road into a glue-like substance, temporarily trapping me in place. I turn around to see her smirking in victory, I just give her a blank look as I fly out of the trap, her smirk of victory becomes a look of shock. A punching bag arrow then hits her across the face, sending her tumbling down the bank stairs. I land next to the trio as they catch their breath. Wally quickly recuperates and runs over to Doctor Light, keeping him busy.

As I land Robin gives me a thumbs up. "Thanks for the assist," he pauses to take some deep breaths. "But next time, come back down as soon as you get knocked into the air, alright?"

I raise an eyebrow as I stare at him incredulously, Speedy does as well. "Really now? I'm sorry, but who disappeared without saying a thing? I for sure know it wasn't me, neither did Speedy, or Kid for that matter."

"You guys do know I'm trained by Batman, right? Disappearing's kinda what we do," Robin explains, thinking that'll clear it up.

Kid Flash stops. "Well, none of us are! That's not gonna fly if you're gonna be the leader," he resumes running circles around Doctor Light.

I look at Robin. "Look, Robin, first you didn't tell us about these guys until like, five minutes before this fight, then you disappear on us. If you wanna be leader you gotta actually lead."

Just as I turn around Starfire comes flying into me, reacting quickly I catch her, holding her bridal style. "Hey Star, having fun?" I ask.

She moans in pain as she rubs her head. "Mammoth has a surprising amount of strength, I will give him that," she hops out of my arms. "Thank you, Apex. Now to help Aqualad and Wonder Girl fell this beast."

As she flies away Speedy waves. "Have fun!"

The stairs below the three of us become ice, and a blast from Neutron sends us falling onto our backs, sliding down the newly made ice slide. Kid Flash then somehow trips over the three of us, creating a superhero dogpile.

Doctor Light and Neutron then walk forward and hit us with a continuous stream of light and energy blasts, due to being on top Kid takes the brunt of the damage. I stretch my arms out above him, absorbing the energy into my body. The two slowly stop their attacks, once they do, I open my eyes to hit them with an energy blast from my eyes, sending them back into the pawn shop across the street.

Robin slides an electric disc towards Shimmer, once it reaches her, it activates, shocking her into unconsciousness. Robin, Speedy, and I get up, I throw one of Kid Flash's arms over my shoulder as I support him. "You good?"

He groans as I help him on one of the steps. "Yeah, just…Give me a minu-AH!"

He slumps over, knocked out. Turning around I see Psimon glaring at Kid Flash, his nose bleeding as Omen lays down behind him. "Two down, six to go," he mutters.

I growl as I hit him with a psychic barrage. Psimon lets out another grunt of pain as he drops to his knees, holding his head in agony as I attack the points Omen had already weakened. Before I can do more, Wonder Girl flies into me, breaking my concentration. The two of us crash into a car.

Wonder Girl lets out a shout of pain before falling unconscious as well, looking up I see Psimon glaring at the two of us. "Three down, five to go," he mutters again.

I carefully place Wonder Girl down as I glare at Psimon. Dammit, how're they so effective? We had numbers, now three of us are down. Aqualad and Starfire come crashing into the area. Make that five of us down. A ball of light lands in front of me. Dammit.

While I'm blinded, I feel Mammoth's hand wrap around my head. I feel myself be swung through the air; I'm then slammed into what feels like steel. Looks like Shimmer changed the asphalt into metal, hoping it'd cause more damage, it doesn't, Mammoth's hand around my head hurts more.

As soon as Mammoth lets go, a combined blast from Doctor Light and Neutron sends me into a wall. Psimon then hits me with a mental blast, stopping me from absorbing the energy attack. I groan in pain as I hold my head.

Speedy, Robin, where the hell are you?

The attacks stop once Doctor Light and Neutron are attacked by my remaining teammates. Speedy hits Neutron with an electric arrow, the shocks from the electricity has him spaz out, firing beams all over the place. His attack then goes on a path for Wonder Girl, reacting quickly, I get her out of the way. Neutron's spasm attacks then put Omen and Starfire in harm's way, I quickly get them out of it.

Eventually Neutron falls over, while he's down Psimon spares a glance, smirking, I use that to my advantage. I kick off the ground and hit Psimon with a dropkick, sending him into one of the pillars of the bank. Okay, two down, three to go, looks like things are even now.

A clothesline from Mammoth sends Speedy and Robin into a pillar, knocking them out. Never mind. Damn.

Doctor Light laughs as he stands over the two, his hands inches above their heads as they glow, heat radiating off them. "Well, we seem to be at an impasse, aren't we, Apex?"

"Not really, I mean, I can move faster than the speed of light, what can you do?" I ask, genuinely curious as to what his reply will be.

Doctor Light fires a small beam at Psimon, somehow waking him up. Wait, could he do that in the comics?

While I'm distracted, Psimon hits me with a powerful mental blast, thankfully my defenses hold, but I'm forced down to my knees as I hold my head.

Doctor Light then throws another flashbang which quickly explodes as soon as I lay eyes on it. While my eyes and mind recuperate, Mammoth grabs me and chokeslams me into the road, which forces the air out of my lungs and causes my ribs to groan in protest.

Once I open my eyes, I notice that the five are gone, along with Robin, Speedy, and Aqualad. Goddammit.

On the ground I see a business card, on it reads "Fearsome Five" they have an address on it. These guys really made a business card. I send out a mental pulse, waking the others up. Omen's the first to recover, as she scans, she begins to panic. "Where's Aqualad? Apex. Where. Is. Aqualad?"

"They took him, Robin, and Speedy. They even left a business card," I mutter. I go over and help Kid Flash up. "Let's head back to base, tell the League what happened, then make a plan of attack. Wonder Girl, can you help KF?"

She nods as she throws one of Kid Flash's arms over her shoulder. I then fly over to Titans Tower, once I reach the teleportation area, I activate the teleporters, bringing Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Omen, and Starfire to the tower.

Omen marches towards the mission room, lowering her hood and facemask. Before she can get far, I stop in front of her. "Out of the way, Dai, we gotta get this done as fast as possible."

"Lil, you were just knocked out from a mental assault, you should get checked out in the infirmary. Trust me, I know how bad you can be after getting your psionic barriers taken down," I counter.

"I-"

Donna places a hand on her shoulder, stopping any further arguments from Lilith. "Lilith, Daichi's right, you should come to the infirmary. Besides, he's second-in-command, without Dick, he's in charge."

Lilith sighs in defeat as she looks at me, a fire in her eyes. "Find them," she turns around and heads to the infirmary with Kory's help.

"Hey, Donna?" I call out, she stops and turns around. "Thanks, for helping me, I appreciate it."

She smiles. "You didn't need my help, Dai, but you're welcome nonetheless," she then heads towards the infirmary.

I take a deep breath to calm myself down. Time to call the Justice League. Once I enter the mission room, I activate the communicator, after a few rings the screen activates to show Hawkman and Green Arrow. Well, time to rip that band-aid off.

_"Yo, Apex, what's up?"_ Green Arrow greets.

"Uh, not good, that's for sure," I reply. Hawkman and Green Arrow lean forward. May as well get to it. "I don't know if you know, but Doctor Light, Psimon, Shimmer, Mammoth, and Neutron broke out of Belle Reve about a week ago, we fought them earlier today."

_"I take it things didn't go as planned?"_ Hawkman rhetorically asks.

"They showed a surprising level of synergy, they were able to incapacitate us. They also have Robin, Aqualad, and…Speedy captive," I chance a glance to see Green Arrow reel back in shock.

He quickly recovers and leans forward. _"Do you know where they are?"_

I show them the business card. "They actually took the time to make a business card. It's obvious they have traps set up, but Omen and I'll make sure we avoid 'em, once the rest of the team recovers, of course."

Hawkman nods. _"Good. We'll inform Batman and Aquaman of the situation. Watchtower, out,"_ the call ends.

I study the address on the card, looks like they're still in San Francisco. Now I've gotta wonder, why leave a card with your address but don't leave a ransom note? I exit the room and head to the second floor, where the monitor room is.

Once there, I activate the computer, inputting the address into the map. After a few seconds, a location pops up, an abandoned theatre at a rundown part of the city. Pretty cliché if you ask me. Since Wally's the only one with a computer built in his suit, I send the location to him.

I enter the elevator and head back to the top floor, once I enter the infirmary, I see the others looking at Wally's map. "So, this is where they are?" He asks.

"Yeah," I answer as I lean against the doorway. "You guys okay?"

Lilith sits up, grunting a little as she does. "I'll be better once we save our friends."

Donna then palms her fist. "And get some revenge. Mammoth hit me with a sucker punch. I don't like the thought of leaving it be."

"Agreed," Kory nods. "What is the plan?"

I walk forward as Wally expands the map. "Obviously, they have traps planted, most likely from Shimmer and Doctor Light, we need to keep an eye out for those. And Psimon's definitely scanning the surrounding area on a constant basis, that should be our first priority."

"You and I can get past that," Lilith says. "If we use our telepathy together Psimon won't be able to sense us, but as soon as there's any change in our…let's say frequency, he'll know we're there."

I nod as I begin to build a plan. "All right. Lilith, when Wally's moving at super speed can you read his mind?"

"No, I can't," she answers.

"When a speedster moves at high speeds so do their thoughts, if they didn't, we'd crash and burn a whole lot," Wally adds. "Hell, if I think about it, you might be the only telepath capable of reading our minds."

"All right, we can work with that. Wally, you're our scout, move fast, don't stop. Avoid traps too, all right? We don't wanna add you to the rescue mission," I begin.

Wally laughs as he gives me a thumbs up.

"Kory, you're overwatch. Stay in the air and make sure any of their exit points aren't exit points anymore. Donna, you'll be the vanguard, try to take out as many of them as you can while we save the others. Lilith, we'll look for the three," I look around at the team. "That sound good?"

Wally raises his hand. "What do you want me to do after scouting?"

"Find us an exit, hell, multiple exits, can't have too many exits. After that help Donna deal with them if- when the time comes," I correct.

"Are you so sure stealth won't work the entire time?" Kory asks.

"Fundamental lesson regarding combat, plans almost never survive first contact with the enemy. I'm more interested to see how far we can go before a full-on fight breaks out," I say. "As soon as we reach 'em, they're gonna find us."

Donna folds her arms as she joins in, looking at Wally. "I say as soon as he enters the building."

"Hey!"

"I agree with Donna," Kory says.

Wally glares at her. "Really? C'mon guys, it's the Wall-Man we're talkin' about, I'll be in and out before they even notice," he boasts.

Lilith just gives him a blank stare before turning to me. "Daichi, why don't you do the scouting?"

I chuckle as Wally sinks deeper and deeper into his bed. "Loathe as I am to admit it, Wally's faster than me, so he'd be the better choice as the scout. Besides, I trust him, we're talking about our friends, Wally won't make any mistakes."

Wally smiles as he offers a fist bump, which I reciprocate. "At least _ooone _of you believes in me."

"Any idea how much longer you guys'll be here?" I ask.

Lilith pulls a console to her and checks it over. "Dammit, about thirty minutes."

I nod. "All right, get some rest guys," I turn around and head towards the main room, once there I sit in the couch.

Huh, first supervillain team and I'm already in a leadership position. I don't like this. In my previous life I wasn't really given the leadership position, hell, I was invisible most of the time, and now everyone's got their eyes on me? That's one hell of a shift if I say so myself.

Please tell me my plans aren't gonna get anyone killed.

"Daichi?"

Opening my eyes, I see Donna standing over me, a concerned look washing over her face. "Are you okay?"

I sit up and scoot over to let Donna sit. "Y-yeah, 'course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem…troubled. I'm here to talk if you want to, we all are," she offers. She places her hand over mine and looks into my eyes.

Feeling uncomfortable I shift my eyes away. "Donna, I'm fine, really."

Donna cups my cheek as she turns my head to look at her. "Don't lie to me Daichi, I do have a Lasso of Truth as well, did you forget? And besides, I have some basic empathy powers, I know when you aren't fine, you can't hide it from me."

She's an empath!? I didn't think we'd have an empath on the team until Raven. Wait, now I remember, she does have empathic abilities depending on the universe. I sigh as I run my free hand through my hair.

"I'm not used to being important. Now look at us, first time against a supervillain team and our leader's been kidnapped, along with two others, and now I have to make a plan to save 'em and keep you guys alive. Crap, I had no idea leading would be this stressful," I keep my head aloft by holding it within my free hand.

Donna shifts our hands, now holding my hand. "Daichi, you're plan's a solid one, and look at us, we can handle it. You aren't alone either, if you need help with your plans just talk to us, we'll help, no problem," She then looks down, her eyes narrowed. Donna then lifts her head and looks at me. "What did you mean about "not being important"?"

Shouldn't have said that. Can't exactly say "Oh, you know, I was just reincarnated into this universe and back then I was a nobody. By the way, you guys were comic books characters then." That'd be something to explain. And I can't say too little, she might know. Maybe.

"I-I don't wanna talk about it," I decide.

Donna frowns slightly, she then nods. "If you want to talk, I'm here."

I feel a smile breakout. "Thanks, Donna," I then lean back, hanging my head over the couch. Sitting there on the stove is the pot of pasta, uneaten, untouched. I get up, Donna coming up with me since our hands are still intertwined. "Pasta's still there, let's eat."

Donna laughs lightly. "Even when evolved, boys still think with their stomachs, don't they?" She lets go of my hand and heads towards the infirmary.

I look at my left hand, it feels cold.

* * *

About an hour later we find ourselves hiding on the rooftop of a building across the street from where the Fearsome Five is hiding out. Kid Flash turns to me and Omen. "Telepathic cloaks are up?"

She nods. "Yeah. Avoid the traps, all right?"

Kid Flash lets out a quick chuckle as he lowers his goggles. "Don't need to tell me that," he then speeds away.

"Starfire, you're up," I say.

She then takes to the air, flying a fair distance above the building to cover any and all exits. After some time, Kid Flash comes back.

"They're using the stage as their central location. They're all being held over a vat of acid, as cliché as that is," he reports.

"All right, let's move in. Kid, WG, you two move in ahead, Omen and I'll be behind you," I order.

Wonder Girl grabs Omen by the hands as I grab Kid Flash by the wrists, we then fly over to the other building, careful to not make too much noise as we land. There's a door on the roof, using my x-ray vision I see the ground is made of a glue-like substance, all thanks to Shimmer. I signal my finding to the others.

"How would they know if we triggered that trap?" Omen wonders.

"Don't know. Don't wanna find out. Let's avoid it," I say.

I slowly open the door, looking around I see no other traps, even after cycling through the different spectrums. The door at the bottom of the stairway has a light bomb at it, I slowly approach it and absorb it. Hope Doctor Light isn't connected to these.

Wonder Girl goes to open the door, I hear Mammoth coming over. I dart out and grab her wrist, after a moment we hear Mammoth's massive footsteps walking by. Once he's away I let go of her arm. Right, now we're inside, so far, so good.

"Kid, check out the main theatre. After that, look for exits, report back when you're done," I order.

He gives a thumbs up before running around, fast enough that he doesn't leave a trail for them to trace.

The three of us then keep an eye out on either side of the hallway, ready to act at a moment's notice. Eventually Kid Flash returns. "Mammoth and Neutron are patrolling around. Shimmer and Psimon are on the stage with Robin, Speedy, and Aqualad. Doctor Light's standing above them. He's got the high ground."

"We're still gonna try it," I joke. "The exits?"

"One in the southern part of the building, and another to the east. We've also still got the way we came. I also locked any exits they might attempt to take," he answers.

I nod, impressed with his ability to think ahead. "Nice. Are they okay? Did you see any injuries?"

"They're fine, the only damage I see was what they took at the fight. They're all awake also," Kid Flash says.

"Omen, let's move in, the two of you, give us cover. Don't make any unnecessary moves though, got it?" I ask.

The two nod their heads. Wonder Girl cracks her knuckles as Kid Flash shifts his feet in place. Omen activates her earpiece. "Starfire, we're moving in."

"_Understood."_

The four of us carefully enter the main theatre, avoiding a pitfall thanks to a light trick from, well, Doctor Light.

Once we enter, Shimmer, Psimon, and Doctor Light get up, ready to fight. Doctor Light throws his arms out, his cape billowing as he does. "AH! The Teen Titans, here to save your friends, no doubt. It seems you're one person short. Looks like we have the numbers advantage," he boasts.

Well, there goes stealth, as expected.

"Sometimes numbers aren't everything, Light," I counter. "So, why'd you hold these guys hostage? Hell, why didn't you have a ransom letter? All you guys did was leave a card with an address."

Doctor Light just smirks as he snaps his fingers. Psimon and Shimmer roll their eyes as they lower the covers, revealing cameras, their red lights showing that they're recording. Light then presses some buttons on one of his gauntlets, a screen lowers and a projector activates, showing a live stream of this.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Kid Flash leans towards me. "How many views do you think we're gonna get?"

"Couple thousand, maybe a million," I shrug. Well, there's one thing I like about this live stream, it shows the others that Mammoth's behind us.

Omen and Kid Flash quickly roll away. Turning around, I catch one of Mammoth's fists, Wonder Girl catches the other. We notice Neutron behind Mammoth; he's charging up an attack. Reacting quickly, Wonder Girl and I throw Mammoth at Neutron, the blast creates a small explosion that sends the four of us back.

Energy blasts from Neutron and Doctor Light sandwich me in place. Huh, guess they didn't learn from last time. Stretching out one arm on either side, I absorb the energy attacks, feeling the power fuel me. I then fire again, hitting a midair Mammoth, sending him back yet again.

The floor below me disappears, becoming vapor. Reacting quickly, I fly, much to Shimmer's annoyance. As she glares at me, Omen hits her with a sucker punch. Nice.

Psimon pulls a lever, the ground below Robin, Speedy, and Aqualad opens up, the smell of the acid becomes strong.

The camera focuses on them as Psimon presses a button, slowly lowering them into the hole. After one blur of yellow and red, the three are now freed, and they have their weapons, although, Aqualad still has a power dampening collar around his neck. "Thanks for the help, but I can't do much."

"How do we get it off you?" Omen asks.

Aqualad glares up at Doctor Light. "He's got the key."

I fly up towards Light, my fists reared back, ready to strike his balcony with an energy enhanced hammer strike. Doctor Light rolls out of the way, I notice a ball of light building in his hand, reacting quickly I shut my eyes just as he throws another flashbang. Once I near the balcony, I slam my fists down, shattering the balcony completely, the entire building shakes.

Opening my eyes, I see Doctor Light preparing an attack, he then fires. Retaliating quickly, I fire my own blast, locking the two of us in a beam struggle. Y'know what? Let's play with him a little. I lower my energy output, giving him a boost in confidence.

He laughs as he pushes forward. "Do you see people?" He shouts to one of the cameras. "Your hero Apex isn't even near the top of the food chain!" He lets out a hysterical bout of laughter.

All right, his confidence's high enough. Time to break it.

I increase my power, pushing him back as if he weren't even there. He begins to let out a confused noise, he then puts in more power, it doesn't help. With one more push I send him flying over what's left of the balcony. As he screams in fear I quickly fly over, catch him, take the key from his belt, and drop him on some of the chairs, knocking him out. One down, four to go.

While midair I toss the key to Aqualad, he catches it and frees himself from the collar. Immediately his eyes begin to glow purple. Neutron attempts an attack, shooting at Aqualad and Omen's backs, Aqualad puts up a shield of water, the collision creates a shroud of steam, obscuring everyone's vision except for me, Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, and Neutron.

Using the steam to his advantage Neutron fires more blasts at Aqualad and Omen, I quickly fly down and protect the two, absorbing the attack as I land. Aqualad places his hand on my shoulder. "I can use the steam. Get it into the cracks of his suit then revert it back to water, that'd take him out."

"Are there any openings you can use?" I ask.

"I can create some," Omen adds. She reaches out, Neutron stops moving and jerks in place as Omen creates small openings in his suit. "You'll have to be quick though, I can already feel the radiation leaking out."

After a few more seconds Aqualad nods. "Done."

Omen lets go of Neutron. At first, he's confused, he honestly expected her to throw him around or something, but for some reason she just kept him in place, and no one else took advantage of it. Next thing Neutron knows, his helmets filled with water, even with the output of energy from within his suit the water isn't evaporating, at least, not fast enough. The water then enters his nose and mouth, after struggling for a moment he falls over. Two down, three to go.

A massive psychic blast disorients all of us. Turning to our left we see Psimon standing over Robin and Speedy's unconscious bodies. Psimon then turns to glare at us, he breathes heavily in rage. "I. Have had. ENOUGH!"

Another psychic blast sends the others to their knees, Omen and I being the only ones standing. Though, Omen looks ready to fall at a moment's notice and I feel a migraine building. She and I share a glance and nod, Omen protects the others from more psychic attacks while I go for Psimon.

I march towards him, keeping up my own psychic defenses as I do. I'll admit, he's strong, but now that I see his attacks coming, he's not as effective.

With one more push, I send his attack back at him, with my own power added in for a little kick. Psimon's eyes roll into the back of his head as his nose begins to bleed. He then falls over. Three down, two to go, and not just any two, the siblings.

I dodge to the side as Mammoth's massive fist swings by, launching a row of still-standing chairs all over the place. Out of the corner of my eye I see Wonder Girl getting up, a glare fixed on him. I smirk as I weave around his fists. Wonder Girl wants revenge, Wonder Girl gets revenge.

Mammoth roars in rage as I kick off his shoulder, leaping back even further. "Stop runnin', you big baby!"

As I take a step back, I notice the ground's air again, looking to my right I see a smirking Shimmer, Kid Flash comes in with a dropkick, sending her back a few feet. While I watch this, Mammoth punches me down, slamming me through the wooden floor.

Mammoth looks down the hole, a large smile on his face as he breaks out in laughter. "Finally, ya stopped movin'."

Wonder Girl comes from behind and punches him in the back of the head, sending him down towards me. I get up quickly and rear my fist back, as he nears, I hit him with an uppercut, Wonder Girl punches him down. We continue this ping pong game for another five hits before Mammoth recovers midair on his way towards me. Mammoth then stomps me into the ground, taking the air from my lungs and causing pain to flare in my entire upper body.

Wonder Girl comes down to assist, but Mammoth decides to use me as a baseball bat, he grabs me by the legs and swings me into a flying Wonder Girl, sending the two of us into a fuse box on a wall. Wonder Girl grunts in pain as some electricity courses through her.

"You okay?" I ask, worried.

"Apex, I'm an Amazonian, a little electricity won't do anything to me," she responds. She gets up and cracks her knuckles. "Now, we've got a creature of the ice age to deal with."

"Think he knows Ray Romano?" I joke.

She lets out a laugh. "It's possible, why don't you ask him?"

Mammoth drags his feet as he lets out puffs of air through his nose. Thought he was a Mammoth, not a Bull. He lets out a roar as he charges towards us. At the last moment Wonder Girl and I dodge out of the way, he slams into the wall, causing the building to begin to collapse. Hell, Robin, Speedy, and Omen, they don't have any form of enhanced durability or superspeed.

I leap back as Mammoth and Wonder Girl begin to fight, destroying the pillars that hold the theatre up as they do. I then activate my earpiece. "Kid! Get Robin, Speedy, and Omen outta here! The place is about to fall!"

_"Yeah, we can tell,_" he replies. _"One problem though, Shimmer's stopping us from getting close to them, and she's turned the floor into ice or made it sticky, running on that's gonna be a bitch."_

I let out a growl of annoyance. More shaking catches my attention. Crapbaskets, we gotta get these guys outta here too, well Neutron and Mammoth can stay, they can handle a building falling on them. But the other three? Not so much. Wait, I've got it! "Aqualad, tell Star where Shimmer is!"

I hear a pillar of water break through the roof. _"On it,"_ Starfire says. A blast of solar energy flies through the roof, Shimmer lets out a cry of pain once it connects. All that's left is Mammoth.

Wonder Girl comes skidding to a halt next to me. "Hi."

I turn around and get into a combat stance. "Hey. Having fun with your friend?"

"Yeah, but he's big enough to share, what do you say? Wanna join in on the fun?" She asks.

Mammoth comes rushing at us.

"Yeah, why not?" I mutter.

I fly ahead, meeting Mammoth in the center. He goes for a punch, but before he can, I flip and hit him with both of my feet, sending him into the second to last pillar. The building's really falling apart. "Guys, get outta here, Wonder Girl and I can handle Manny."

_"Manny?"_ Starfire asks.

_"It's one of the main characters from a film called _Ice Age,_ we should watch it sometime,"_ Kid Flash replies.

"Yeah, we'll watch it once you guys get the hell outta here, the last pillar's about to go down, and once it does things are gonna get loud," I order.

_"On it, boss. C'mon, let's get outta dodge,"_ Aqualad says.

I hear the rest of the team exiting the collapsing building, with four of the Fearsome Five in tow. Once they leave, I look back at Wonder Girl and Mammoth, currently locked in combat. So far, so good, Daichi, your plan hasn't gotten anyone seriously hurt, let's keep it that way.

While Mammoth has a fist raised, I fly over with my arms extended, hitting him in the side. He growls as he spins around with his fists out, clipping me as I avoid him. Wonder Girl uses this to her advantage by sweeping his legs out from under him, and while he's falling, I slam my feet into his chest, helping him down.

Still on the ground, Mammoth's giant hand grabs Wonder Girl's upper half, she lets out a noise of shock as she thrown into the last pillar, the building shakes once she hits it. Mammoth then quickly gets up and claps his hands around my head, disorienting me due to my enhanced senses.

As I stumble, he grabs me by the back of my suit and punches me repeatedly with his free hand, after some hits I start to feel the pain building. Mammoth then stops his punching barrage…just to slam me into the ground over and over and over.

He then tosses me into the lone pillar. I really don't like how much this building is shaking. Wait, I have a plan, thank you _Young Justice!_ I create a mental link with Wonder Girl as the two of us fly around Mammoth, hitting him when an opening appears. _"Wonder Girl, plan."_

_"What do you have in mind?"_

_"We trick our gargantuan friend here into running into the last pillar. With the way the building's structure is looking I'd say taking that down would have the entire building falling on him. What do you think?"_ I ask.

She has a smirk on her face as she kicks his right arm, causing Mammoth to roar in rage. _"I think I like this plan."_

She punches both fists into his face and uses the force from the attack to fly back towards the pillar. I then kick off his face, also flying towards the pillar. "Come on, dumbass! We're right here, ready to fight!" She taunts.

_"You don't think he'll see what we're doing?"_ Wonder Girl asks mentally.

Mammoth drags his feet and lets out a puff of air, again. I turn to Wonder Girl, a victorious grin on my face. _"Y'know, I don't think so."_

Mammoth lets out an ear shattering roar as he charges towards us. Wonder Girl and I share a smirk before dodging at the last minute. Once he connects with the final pillar the building collapses on Mammoth. Creating an energy bubble, I stop the rubble from landing on me and Wonder Girl.

She turns to me as the building falls around us. "Did you finish your history paper?"

"I finished it the day we got it," I answer.

She gives me an amused smile and shakes her head. "Of course you did. Think you can review mine?"

I nod. "Of course."

Eventually the building stops collapsing. I then lift the bubble shield up, moving the debris out of the way as we rise. Once the final piece of debris is gone, we see Neutron and Shimmer awake, barely holding the team off as Doctor Light tries to wake Psimon up. Can't have that.

I drop the shield, but as soon as I do, Mammoth erupts from the collapsed building, roaring in rage as he does. Damn, how strong is this guy!?

He rushes over and hits me with a clothesline, sending me skidding across the street. Wonder Girl flies up and draws her sword and shield to avoid his attack, but while she's in the air, Doctor Light shoots her in the back, sending her crashing towards the ground.

As I begin to get up, Mammoth stomps on my back, forcing me down. He then lifts his foot and stomps down, indenting me into the road, I can feel an outline in my shape being made.

He then backs up and charges towards the team, as he does, Neutron fires a blast at Wonder Girl with one hand, keeping her pinned down. Once he reaches me, he aims his other hand at me, he then fires a blast, keeping me pinned down as well.

"I know you can absorb this, I'm not dumb, but I do know the force behind my attacks can keep you off your feet as long as you can't recover," He intensifies his attack. "I'll make sure of it."

A few moments later Neutron grunts in pain as a little red acrobat leaps on him, throwing him off balance. Robin places a hand on top of Neutron's helmet and uses it as a springboard, flipping off of the enemy. He then lands next to Wonder Girl, helping her up as he glares at Neutron. "You two okay?" He asks.

Wonder Girl nods as she rubs her head. "I'm fine. Apex?"

I rotate one of my arms as I crack my neck. "I'm more than fine," my eyes and fists glow orange. "If anything, I'm ready to show Neutron what real power's like."

Neutron growls as he gets in a fighting stance. "Don't underestimate me."

He then swings, once the hit connects, I feel an explosion of pain and I'm sent flying back into a nearby car. Looks like _I_ underestimated _him._ Not anymore.

I slowly turn my head back to him, grinning as I do. "Really shouldn't have shown me how strong you are," I warn.

I punch him in the face plate, sending him into the building we were at just before this fight started. Robin runs up next to me, two electric birdarangs in each hand. "That looked like it hurt."

I rub my jaw as it heals. "It did. Now what, oh, fearless leader?"

As soon as Neutron's head peeks out of the hole, Robin throws the birdarangs, once they connect, we see a flash of lightning and hear Neutron cry out in pain. "Speaking of leader, great job leading the team, man," he compliments.

"Thanks," I reply.

Neutron sticks his head out of the hole. "Can you not throw those things? They really mess with my ability to keep it together. Thanks."

Robin and I stare wide-eyed at his request, we then look at each other from the corner of our eyes before turning back to him. "What, uh, what's gonna happen if I keep doing that?" Robin asks.

"I'll explode."

Robin, Wonder Girl, and I step back in shock. "Robin, don't do that anymore, okay?" Wonder Girl says.

He nods. "Yeah, got it. No more electric birdarangs. No problemo."

Neutron gives a thumbs up. "Thank you."

"Neutron!" Doctor Light shouts. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Trying to not explode, Doc. I mean, I'd be fine, and probably Apex and Mammoth. Not so sure about Wonder Girl and Aqualad, but the rest of you…yeah, no, you'd die," he explains.

"Okay, great. Now fi-GAH! DAMMIT!" Doctor Light gets interrupted by a kick from Starfire that sends him into Shimmer.

I lean towards Robin. "We gotta finish this. Now."

He nods. "Get Aqualad to help you two deal with Mammoth. I've got Neutron."

The two of us immediately fly towards a preoccupied Mammoth who's already in a fight with Aqualad. Aqualad sees us coming, so he traps Mammoth's feet in ice. Wonder Girl and I then flip, flying at him feet first, once we connect, Mammoth flies into a nearby rundown car.

The three of us stand together as Mammoth gets back up, growling in annoyance. Looking closely, I see he's favoring his left leg, and his heartbeat's moving slower, looks like we're beginning to slow him down. "He's finally showing some damage, let's add on to it, shall we?" I say.

Aqualad smirks as blocks of water begin to float around him. "We shall."

Mammoth lets out another roar as he charges towards us. Aqualad whips his arms forward, the blocks of water collide with Mammoth, slowing him down greatly as they connect. Wonder Girl then tosses her shield at him, it connects with the top of his head, whipping it back. I then run forward before taking flight, once Mammoth puts his head back in position, I punch him square in the nose with more force than I've used so far. I hear his nose break under my fist.

Mammoth takes some steps back as he grasps at his nose, he lets out whimpers of shock as he looks at the blood now pooling in his hands. Guess he isn't used to seeing his own blood. Well, he will be after today.

Aqualad runs by me, once he nears Mammoth, he swings a water hammer into his left side, causing Mammoth to fall to one knee. Wonder Girl then comes in from the right side, hitting him with a rapid series of cuts to his right side, forcing him to his knees. While he's down, panting to catch his breath, I run forward and hit Mammoth with a backflip kick to the face, sending him careening through the air. Mammoth lands with a massive thud, creating a small earthquake as he does.

We barely duck out of the way from light blasts. Turning around we see Doctor Light's firing wildly, barely avoiding even his own teammates. As he ducks another blast Aqualad growls in annoyance. "Apex, deal with him."

I step in front of a blast heading for him, absorbing it. "Don't gotta tell me twice."

Psimon gets up and releases another pulse, me and Omen quickly put up mental barriers, protecting us from the attack. Although, protecting that many minds at once wasn't something we were used to, Psimon senses that and continues his barrage.

As he does this, Neutron throws Robin aside, he then marches forward and hits me with a blast of energy, Doctor Light soon joins in.

I thought he said he was smart, so why's he hitting me with an energy attack again? The beam of light then explodes, blinding all of us. As we recoil in shock, Psimon takes advantage of the opening to hit us with another big mental attack, making recovery a slightly longer process.

Once our eyes clear and the headache dissipates, we notice that the Fearsome Five has escaped, again. At least they don't have a hostage this time, that's a plus.

"Oh, come on!" Kid Flash shouts in anger. He kicks a nearby rock but recoils instantaneously, he bounces around on one foot as he whimpers in pain.

Speedy chuckles as he takes off his hat to rub his head. "As annoyed as I am that they escaped, I gotta say, thanks for the save, guys."

Aqualad stays standing with Omen's assistance. "Yeah. I mean, we would've gotten out eventually, you guys just sped up the process."

"Suuure you would," Omen sarcastically replies, she still pulls him into a tight hug.

"Right. You guys did great," Robin compliments.

Wonder Girl punches my shoulder. "You should thank Apex; it was his plan that saved you guys."

I blink in surprise as I feel a blush of embarrassment grow on my face. "Whoa, no, no, no. I-it wasn't me, I had input from the others. It wasn't all me."

"It was _all_ him. Seriously Apex, learn how to take a compliment," Kid Flash adds.

I bow my head. "Thanks. We should head back to the Tower, don't you think?"

"My feet still kinda hurt," Kid Flash says.

"I'm on it," I float in the air and head towards the Tower at high speeds. While flying, my thoughts go back to Superman's advice from a little over a week ago. From their they shift to Wonder Girl, and our interactions over this past month.

Ever since the invasion we've all been hanging out, getting to know each other more, the others would also help me and Starfire get used to life on Earth, but none more so than Wonder Girl. And later Robin would help Starfire, allowing Donna to help me with her full attention. Thoughts of her begin to plague my mind even more, even once I reach the teleporters.

Jesus Christ, I have a thing for Donna Troy.

Wonder Woman's gonna kill me.

After inputting the right set of characters, the others teleport in. Kid Flash lets out a loud groan as he lowers his cowl, he goes straight for the couch and flops down on it.

Dick laughs as he takes off his mask, although he winces and clutches his ribs. "Wally. Infirmary."

Wally groans again as he throws himself onto his feet. "Fiiine," He notices me chuckle and points at me accusingly. "What about him!? Mammoth threw him around like a ragdoll."

"Advanced healing factor man. Which leads me to my next question: shouldn't you be healed up by now?" I ask.

His stomach growls in response. "Fast metabolism, dude. If I wanna heal I gotta eat. Speaking of, pasta?"

I point at the fridge. Wait, Garth knows magic. I turn to him. "Garth, you know magic, why can't you heal the team?"

He scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. "I don't know a lot about healing magic. I focus mainly on combat magic, offensive and defensive spells, you know."

"You really should learn some healing spells."

He deflates as Lilith fixes him with a glare. "Would you look at that, someone else saying the same thing I've been saying for the past year, who would've thought?"

"You did, Lilith," he drones.

Lilith nods as she grabs him by the ear and heads towards the infirmary. "You're damn right, I did."

Kory stands back as the rest of the team heads to the infirmary, Donna notices. "Kory?"

She just waves Donna's concern aside. "I will be fine. I have enhanced durability, and with some exposure to sunlight I will heal at a faster rate, don't worry about me," She then rubs her stomach. "And I find myself to be rather hungry as well."

Kory joins Wally in the dining area, the two begin to talk as they wait for the food to reheat.

I feel a hand cup my cheek. Looking up I see Donna smiling as she leans in to kiss me on the other cheek. My face lights up. "You did great," she compliments, not at all helping my current condition. "Your plan saved our teammates, and no one got hurt, I'd say you did great on your first stint as leader."

I feel a smile breakout, but then the memory of them escaping comes back to mind. I frown as I lower my face. "Yeah, but they still escaped. Hell, they even got past my senses, I mean, how the hell did they do that?"

Her other hand cups my other cheek, she's now holding my face. "We'll find them, and when we do, we'll take them down. I promise you," She has a fire in her eyes as she affirms this.

Another smile breaks out as I can't help but agree. "When you say it so surely, how can we not?"

She pulls me in a hug before leaning towards the infirmary. "See you in a bit, punching Mammoth hurts, surprisingly enough."

I turn around to see Wally smirking and Kory with a genuine smile on her face. "Don't-"

"You guys are sooo cute together!" Wally gushes sarcastically. He holds his hands together as he balances on one foot, the other bent at an angle as he blinks rapidly.

Kory nods, not understanding his sarcasm. Bless your heart, Kory, you adorable space princess you. "Wally is correct! Will you choose Donna as your mate?"

"Whoa!" I nervously laugh as I hold my hands up. "Let's not talk about that right now, okay? I mean, pasta!" Wally turns around, he opens the pot and takes a deep whiff, sighing as he turns off the stove top. Diversion successful.

The two then have another conversation, forgetting about the one we just had almost entirely. Thank you, pasta, I will honor you the best way I can, by eating you. Although as we eat my thoughts go back to Donna. Dammit.

I've made my decision.

* * *

**A/N 8/29/2020:**

**Coming back to these chapters is pretty surreal. Like, I never realized how many mistakes actually flew under the radar for this story and **_**A Sinister Past**_**. I'm so glad I'm doing these rewrites, otherwise I'd hate the beginning of these stories until the end of time. **

**Two more rewrites to go then it'll be time for the next part of Daichi's story! **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you two Saturdays from now, you beautiful people! **


	5. Night Light

**A/N 8/29/2020**

**So goddamn close to done. **

**I hope you get the notification to these updates. If not, I'll bring the updated chapters up in the seventh, new chapter. **

**But like the previous author's note said: what the hell's up with Supergirl's age? Does it have something to do with Infinite Crisis? If you're new here, I was wondering why before, Supergirl was about Nightwing's and Barbra Gordon's age, yet after Superman/Batman she was suddenly made around Cassie Sandsmark's and Stephanie Brown's age. Like, the fuck?**

**Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**Night Light**

"Would you look at that," Garth mutters. "We're still trending."

Roy stops picking at his salad as he looks up, an incredulous look on his face. "Still? Don't people have better things to do? That livestream was days ago."

Lilith smacks the back of his head as she looks around, making sure no one overheard. "Pipe down! We're in school right now, remember?"

Roy rubs his head as he glares at her. "Yeah, it's also lunch, remember?"

"C'mon, Lil, everybody's screaming, no one's gonna hear me talk about our…extracurriculars," I try to help.

Roy smiles as he points his fork at me. "See? Who's gonna hear? No one, that's who."

"Hi, Donna!"

Looking up we see four of Donna's female friends coming towards the table. Donna smiles as she points at the open seats. "Hey girls! Come, sit and meet my other friends."

The four sit and start to eat their lunch, the brunette's the first to speak. "So, who're your two new friends?"

"Oh! My name is Kory Anders, nice to meet you!" Kory offers her hand to shake which they all take.

They then turn to me. "Akiyama Daichi how are ya?"

The Asian girl perks up. "Hoshi Kimiyo! Are you from Japan?"

You've gotta be kidding me. We're on the hunt for one Doctor Light and now the other one goes to our school? What game are you playing, universe?

I nervously rub the back of my head. "Uh, no. I'm from here, actually. Well, I was born in Seattle, but I'm living with some family friends."

"_(Can you speak Japanese?)" _She asks.

_"(Yes, yes I can. I do want to visit one day,)"_ I admit.

The others look between the two of us, their eyebrows raised in confusion. Eventually the brunette speaks up again. "Well, my name's Naomi McGrath, this here's Sasha Summers, and we've got Queen Bee herself, Karen Beecher. So, how do you guys know Donna?"

"Her sister was kind enough to let me stay with them as I visit the States," Kory says.

"Oh, where are you from?" Sasha asks.

"Hawaii," Kory simply says.

"Definitely explains your tan," Naomi mutters. "And you?"

"The people I'm living with are friends with her sister," I answer, completely truthful, might I add!

"Cool," Kimiyo turns to Roy. "What were you talking about? Extracurriculars?"

Roy chokes on his drink as my eyes widen slightly. Lilith turns to us with a large, but very fake smile on her face. "Yeah, what extracurriculars guys? You never told us what you were doing, exactly."

Roy controls his facial emotions, but once our eyes connect, I know he's freaking out. After all, I'm freaking out too. I cough as I begin to vocalize my idea. "We're finding ways to help the police in finding crimes, especially once they start, instead of during the crime."

"Really? Isn't that a little dangerous? I mean, yeah, we just met you guys, but I don't want you getting hurt," Karen says worriedly.

Roy laughs as he flexes. "No need to worry, Karen, Daichi and I can take on anything. Ain't that right?"

He and I clap hands like we're in the _Predator_. "You know it."

Naomi sighs as she shakes her head. "Hey, did you guys hear about that new superhero team? The Teen Titans?"

"Of course we have, at this point who hasn't?" Donna says.

"Point. Well, almost four weeks ago they beat this one guy, Doctor Light, right?" Naomi begins.

We all nod. Garth and Roy share a sly glance as small grins play on their lips.

"Later, Doctor Light got some supervillains to help, then they kidnapped Robin, Aqualad, and Speedy-"

Their grins become frowns.

"-And then the rest of the Teen Titans come in and save their teammates! Then they have this big fight. Sucks that the Fearsome Five got away though," Naomi finishes.

"Eh, I'm sure the Teen Titans will stop them, heroes tend to do that, don't they?" Lilith shrugs.

Before the others can reply, the bell signaling the end of lunch rings. Roy sighs as he gets up. "Off to chemistry for me. Goddammit, I hate that class."

"Sucks to be a senior, doesn't it?" Lilith cheekily replies.

Roy smirks as he points at her then Garth. "At least I'll graduate. The two of you'll understand my plight next year, just watch."

"That's right!" Kimiyo cries out. "What grades are you guys in?"

"I'm a sophomore, like Donna," I answer.

"And I am a freshman," Kory answers.

"Cool. What classes do you guys have next?" Kimiyo asks.

"Me and Daichi have history next," Donna answers for us.

"You do? How come I've never seen you? I'm also in the class," Sasha asks.

"I'm quiet. and I sit in the middle, that way I don't stand out," I tell her my tactics.

She taps her chin as she hums. "Never thought about that. It does make sense now that I think about it. Y'know what? I'm gonna try it," Sasha declares.

Donna stands between the two of us and drags us towards the sophomore lockers. "No, you're not. We're all gonna sit in the front and learn! Isn't it fun?"

"See you guys later," Roy says. The others all split to their own ways, while Sasha, Donna, and I head to our lockers.

As I'm getting my books my thoughts drift to a couple of days ago, when I decided what to do with Donna. I mean, whenever I think about her, I feel…light? But then the thought of even talking to her about changing our relationship makes me feel heavy. Heavier than ever.

I bang my head into my locker door, groaning as I do. I ignore the looks from the people next to me.

While I'm wallowing in my thoughts, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Turning around I see Kimiyo, her books in her arms and a smile on her lips. "What's on your mind, Daichi?" She asks.

Do I tell her? I mean, I barely know her, as a person and as a character. But that could work, if I barely know her then that means I probably won't see her after high school. Which won't end for another two years… Who am I kidding? She'll eventually become Doctor Light II, then we'll have interactions in the future.

Screw it, what's the worst that can happen?

"It's about Donna, isn't it?" She smugly says.

A whole bunch of things happen at once. My eyes widen, my head pops up, almost breaking the sound barrier, I whip my head towards her, actually hearing my neck crack, and my face lights up.

Kimiyo smiles as she pats my shoulder. "Got it in one, did I? Tell me your plights, so that I may do my best to assist you, brother," she dramatically states.

I look down the hall to see Sasha and Donna talking, looks like Sasha's rummaging through her bag to get her history book. Good. I turn to Kimiyo and rub the back of my head; my face continues to heat up.

"Uh, well, you see…" God, this is harder than I expected.

"You like her, but you don't know how to act on it. And you're scared that she might reject you, leading to a negative change in your relationship," Kimiyo finishes for me, getting it in one again.

I stutter a bit before dropping my head in defeat. "And Bingo was his name-o."

She chuckles as she places a hand on my shoulder. "No need to sound so down, man! Donna's an extremely beautiful girl, I'll admit, so I can totally see why you're attracted to her," Kimiyo's smile then becomes a grimace once three large boys walk by, all laughing loudly. "Too bad you aren't the only one."

I raise an eyebrow as the trio of stereotypical jocks march down the hallway, the smaller students avoiding them as best they could. I raise an eyebrow, how the hell have I never heard these guys? They're loud as hell, and I've got super hearing.

I turn to Kimiyo. "Who the hell're they?"

Kimiyo looks at me wide-eyed. "How the hell do you not know Jackson Miller and Things 1 and 2?"

"Thing 1 and Thing 2?"

"They're names are Sam and Leo, but no one cares, they're nothing but Jackson's minions. Seriously though, how do you not know about them?" She asks.

I shrug as I grab my materials before closing my locker. "I just don't know 'em," I look at them, annoyed at their loud boisterous attitudes. "Wish I still didn't."

On their way to us, Donna and Sasha are stopped by Jackson and his crew. Jackson leans in closely, invading Donna's personal space. I feel my fist tighten as a growl emanates from me. He's too close to her.

Using my super hearing I listen in on the conversation between the two.

"So, Donna, you doin' anythin' this Friday?" He asks.

She has a fake smile on her face as she attempts to back up, Jackson just moves forward, maintaining the same distance between the two. "I actually have plans for the weekend. Some friends and I plan on hanging out, sorry."

Her sorry was fake, anyone could tell.

"C'mon Donna, I can show you a great time. Privately," he continues to push.

Never mind, anyone but Jackson could tell.

Donna grabs Sasha by the arm and the two try walking towards us, Jackson and his minions following close behind. "This is something I've been waiting for some time now. Daichi has yet to really see the city, and I hope to show him around."

Jackson's smug smirk becomes a deep frown. "Forget that little weirdo, babe, you can show me anything," he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at that last part.

Kimiyo scoffs after hearing that as the five of them enter normal hearing range. "Fucking disgusting," she grabs my arm in an iron grip and marches towards them, dragging me along. Honestly, I'm surprised by her strength.

Donna's eyes harden as she stops, the other four stumble in place at her sudden cease of movement. She lets go of Sasha's arm and stabs a finger into Jackson's chest, glaring strongly up at him and forcing him to stumble back into his cronies. "Don't you _ever _talk bad on my friends. Do. You. Understand?"

Jackson's fearful face becomes smug again. "Man, you are _so_ hot when you're angry."

Kimiyo and I reach the two, she throws her arm over Donna's shoulder. Kimiyo then grabs Jackson by the shirt, pulls him down, and connects with a headbutt, shocking all of us. Jackson reels back, clutching his nose and staring at her in shock. Kimiyo steps forward and stomps on his foot. "Don't mess with my friends, got it?"

Looking around, I see everyone else in the hallway stop and stare in shock. Donna and Sasha smirk in victory as they stand beside Kimiyo, glaring at Jackson and his minions. I stand back, not liking the attention put on the seven of us. I can hear some people whispering, a few talking about me. I don't like it.

Jackson and his minions just glare at her. Kimiyo grinds her foot, causing Jackson to wince. "I said, got. It?"

Jackson glares as he reluctantly nods. Once Kimiyo lifts her foot, he nods his head to the side. "Let's go," he mumbles. The three stalk through the crowd, once they turn the corner, everyone comes forward to clap Kimiyo on the shoulder and thank her, some coming up to Donna and Sasha as well.

Hell, a couple even come to me. I awkwardly hold a quick conversation with them. Eventually the one-minute bell goes off, dispersing the crowd.

Kimiyo waves bye as she heads towards her class. After waving back, the three of us head towards our history class, which, thankfully, happens to be really close to our current location. Entering the classroom, Donna leads us to three seats at the left edge of the room, three open desks there perfectly for us.

I quickly take the corner seat as Donna sits in the middle and Sasha sits in the third desk. "He was a jerk," I mutter.

Donna turns to me and smirks as Sasha lets out a giggle. "Got that right, Daichi," Sasha agrees. "We have a project to do today, right?" She asks us.

"It's due in by the end of the week," Donna answers. She chuckles at Sasha's shocked look. "Don't worry, we'll get all of class to work on it. Me and Dai can help. Right, Dai?"

I fold my arms as the teacher heads to the front of the class. "Right."

The teacher claps his hands together as he begins speaking. "All right, class! If I'm being completely honest, I know most of you have yet to even get started on your history projects," he jokes, some of the students chuckle and others look down with a modicum of shame. "But I am a generous teacher. I'll give you all of class to work on your assignment, and you can ask the people near you for advice. That means no shouting across the room. Adrian?"

Said student sinks into his desk as he blushes in embarrassment, the class laughs at his expense.

The teacher nods before heading back to his desk. As soon as he sits, chaos erupts. Everyone begins speaking at once, some about the project and others about more personal things. The sudden increase in sound actually hurts, I wince in pain as I cover my ears with my hands.

Sasha and Donna notice my discomfort. "He has sensitive ears," Donna covers. She places her hands over mine and turns my head to her, a gentle, comforting look directed towards me. "Daichi, are you okay?"

I back up and shake my head a little, the sound becoming bearable. "Yeah, just, still getting used to being around this amount of people at a time."

"But it's always loud as hell during lunch, you don't seem to have hearing pains then," Sasha points out.

"Yeah, but it's always loud. Dead silence to an explosion of noise is a whole other thing," I answer.

"Got it," Sasha's nod of understanding quickly becomes a look of panic. "Ah, crap! What am I gonna do my project on?"

Donna gives me a thumbs up and a nod showing how impressed she is with me before chuckling and turning to Sasha. "We're talking about World War I, so just focus on something around that time."

"Right, right. What're you two gonna study?" She asks.

Donna smiles widely as she pulls up her assignment on her laptop. On the screen we see a newspaper article from around the time, on it reads _'A Wonder Woman Among Us!'_ Donna folds her arm as she smiles proudly. "Wonder Woman made her debut during the first World War. I'll write about her."

Sasha rolls her eyes as a knowing smirk grows on her face. "Of course, you'd write about her," she looks at me. "Anything Wonder Woman related, Donna's the first one on it. Hell, Donna's actually taken some really professional looking pictures of her. I still wonder how she was able to take 'em."

Donna guiltily chuckles as she finds her project interesting.

Oh, it's like Spider-Man, just less selfies and more taking pics of your sister. Cool. "Yeah, I've seen them," I rest my hand on my chin and lean towards her, a knowing smirk on my face. "How do you get them?"

Donna shoots finger guns at me. "A magician never reveals her secrets."

"All right, enough flirting, you two," Sasha interrupts. Donna whips her head towards her, glaring. I see some pink on her face. I also feel myself blushing. "Daichi, what're you doing?"

I pull up my project and shrug. "Nothing spectacular like the debut of the first superhero. I'm just gonna write on the weaponry and warfare tactics of the time."

Sasha and Donna raise eyebrows as they look through my project. Sasha looks at me impressed. "Wow, that's pretty in depth. Why'd you choose this?"

"I'm just interested in warfare and the way it changes over time. I like to think fighting is what really shows you who you are. And every war's different from the last, 'cause we've learned from it, changed from it. That's human evolution in a nutshell," I answer.

"A pretty dark way to look at it," Sasha retorts. She sighs as she leans back into her seat. "Crap, I still don't know what to do my project on."

I sigh in slight annoyance as I get out of my seat and stand on one side of Sasha, Donna on the other side. "All right, let's see what you can do."

After some time, she eventually finds her topic. The technology of the time.

For the rest of class, the three of us talk as we (Sasha) work. The rest of the school day drags on, but eventually it ends, and once it does, I head for the nearest teleporter.

Time to head home.

* * *

I glare at him, but he just looks back at me, not knowing what's going on.

Goddammit. I can't stay mad at him.

I sigh deeply as I lean down to pick him up. "Jon, next time don't just barge into my room headfirst, all right?"

He just smiles and giggles. I _really _can't stay mad at him.

My door is opened by Lois. She smiles once she sees me holding Jon, she then looks down at the Jon shaped hole at the bottom of my door with a raised eyebrow, a smile still on her face. "Y'know, I'm glad he isn't as strong as you two. I mean, can you imagine what a super strong baby would get up to?"

I look at her with a blank stare. "M- Lois," I hope she didn't catch that. She's smirking, she caught it. I point at the hole in the door. "He crawled through my door. Hell, he bit through my last laptop last week. He's super strong."

She chuckles at the memory. "Never thought I'd see a baby eat through a laptop. Then again, never thought I'd marry an alien, have a kid with said alien, and take in a literal superhuman. And yet, here I am," she smiles fondly at the two of us, more towards Jon though, I'm not offended. "But knowing he's stronger than most people does help alleviate my mom fears, y'know?"

I look at Jon. Kid currently has one of the tassels of my hoodie in his mouth. "That leads to a question I've been wondering about for a while, how strong is he compared to Clark at his age?"

"Don't you mean "Dad"?" She retorts with a cheeky smirk. "According to Ma and Pa, Jon's actually stronger than Smallville when he was Clark's age."

I hum as I lightly flick Jon's nose. He just makes a noise of annoyance before going back to attempting to eat my tassel. "Makes sense. I mean, Clark lived under a yellow sun for most of his life. Jon was _born _under one, no doubt he'd be stronger. Was he born in a normal hospital?"

Jon begins to fuss in my arms. Lois quickly comes forward and takes him, he slowly calms down.

"No. Bruce and Clark were worried that he'd immediately show his powers at birth, causing problems for us, so he was delivered in the Fortress instead," she places a finger on her chin as she hums in thought. "Now that I think about it, when at the Fortress, Clark's at his strongest. I'd say it takes in solar radiation at a rate far above anything else on Earth."

"And if Jon were born at the Fortress then he'd be even stronger than if he were born in a normal hospital. Well, that mysteries been solved," I look at the drool covered tassel. "I'm gonna change."

"I'm gonna shower a half-alien baby. I feel like one of us drew the short end of the stick," she jokes.

As I change my phone's ringtone goes off. Looking at it I see Wally calling. I pick up the phone and put it on speaker as I change. "What's up?"

_"Okay, so for Friday I was thinking we play Twister!"_ He begins.

I narrow my eyes. I think I know where this is going, but let's see if I'm right. "Of all the games available you choose Twister. Why?"

_"Think about it, Twister is a game of Earth! Everyone's gotta play it at some point. What better time to introduce the game to Kory than now?"_

Yup. It went just where I thought it would.

I sigh as I float, using my position to put my sweatpants on. Flying is a great lifehack. "What about me, Wall? Shouldn't I play Twister too?"

Wally sputters before barking out a reply. _"I-I mean, I'd like to help you guys play one at a time, y'know? Besides, it's played in teams of two! And I'd rather be on a team with Kory, I feel I'd help her best."_

"Yeah, suuure. Wouldn't Dick be a better partner? He's flexible as hell, Wally. Also, you just wanna "trip" and get tangled up with Kory. I can see through your ploy, boy," I say.

_"All right, you got me there. But c'mon, dude! You can't deny it, Kory's one hell of a hottie,"_ Wally reasons.

I nod in agreement. Back in my home universe I'd definitely count her as one of the most attractive heroines. Now that I think about it, practically every girl I know is attractive. But still, she's in another class.

And Donna's in a league of her own.

Wally lets out a laugh. _"Hold up, I got a better idea," _he pauses for dramatic effect. _"Me and Kory vs you and Donna."_

"What're you planning?" I ask, narrowing my eyes towards my phone.

_"Well, if you won't let me get close to Kory, I can help you get close to Donna. Think about it, my plan, just replace me with you and Kory with Donna. Boom. Perfect,"_ he says.

"That isn't gonna work," I shoot down his plan.

He scoffs at my view on his plan. _"Not with that attitude it won't!" _He sighs deeply. _"You aren't gonna change your mind, are you?"_

"No, I don't think I will," I reply with a cheeky grin. "Anything else?"

_"Yeah, so, I got cups and plates and crap. Garth's gonna bring some Atlantean food, Donna's gonna do the same with food from Themiscyra. You got anything?"_ He asks.

"I'll bring drinks. What about Roy, Dick, and Lilith?" I ask.

_"Dick's got food, Roy's gonna bring some video games, and Lilith's gonna bring some movies. Not gonna lie, kinda excited for this hangout,"_ Wally admits.

"Yeah, same here, man-" I pause after hearing some shouts from Lois. What the hell?

A crawling blur bursts through my door, right next to the previous hole. The blur then knocks into my legs. Jon rolls onto his butt and looks up at me, giggling happily.

_"Daichi? Bro, you okay? What was that loud noise? Fuck it-"_

Wally runs into the room. "I'm on my- oh! Hey, Jon!"

Lois skids to a halt in front of my door, breathing heavily as her eyes lay on Jon. She's currently covered in shampoo and drenched. She marches forward and picks up a laughing Jon, once she turns around, she steps back in shock before calming down. "Wally! How are you?"

"I'm good Mrs. Kent! How're you?" He asks.

"Wally, what do I keep saying? Lois is just fine," she says. Lois then sighs deeply as she nods towards Jon. "Never been happier. Hey, Daichi told me you've joined your school's newspaper?"

"Oh, yeah. I've already talked to Mr. K- Clark about it, he's willing to help but he said asking you would be better," Wally says.

Lois rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. "Always the humble one, Clark is. What does Iris say about this? She's one hell of a reporter too."

"She's willing to help too, but she also told me it's best to get input from multiple sources. I was hoping you could help?" Wally asks, his pitch getting higher as he asks his question.

"Of course, Kid. All right, you boys make your plans or whatever, I got a baby to clean," she looks down the left side of the hall before looking back through my door. "Smallville's here, by the way," Lois heads towards the bathroom as Jon waves his arms around.

Wally and I head to the living room to see Clark taking off his shoes. Once he hears us coming, he looks up. "Hey Wally, what're you doing here?"

Wally jerks his thumb to me. "I was calling this guy when I heard a loud noise. Turned out Jon crawled through his door."

"Again," I mutter.

Wally turns to me. "The hell do you mean "Again"!?"

"It's the second time he broke into my room. Literally. I mean, the first laptop I had, he bit through it. That wasn't fun," I not so fondly remember.

Clark chuckles as Wally breaks out into laughter. Eventually he begins to calm down, and when he does his ringtone goes off. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and looks at the screen. "It's my Mom, she's probably freaking out, I did kinda leave without saying anything."

He picks up the phone, using common courtesy Clark and I don't listen in on the other half of the call.

Clark turns to me and nods his head towards the kitchen. "Anything in the kitchen?"

"I'm probably gonna make something, not sure what though," I start to think about what we have in the kitchen. What could I make with what we have?

"Jeez, people used to say I was the perfect man, then you come along. All my strengths, none of my weaknesses, and some extra powers added in. Is there anything you can't do?" He jokingly asks.

"Talk to people who don't have hidden agendas," I drawl.

Wally sticks his head out form the other side of the wall, a frantic look in his eyes. "So, my Mom called to tell me that Grodd's attacking Keystone. Uncle Barry's currently in Russia on a League mission and I was hoping-"

Clark and I are already in our suits. "Don't even have to ask, Wally. Lois! Daichi, Wally, and I are gonna fight some gorillas in Keystone!"

"All right! Be sure to be back before dinner!" Lois calls out.

Clark takes off his glasses as he heads towards the window and opens it. He then turns to us, his demeanor changing into one of confidence and strength. "You two ready?" Superman asks.

Wally stretches his legs as he nods. "I've been ready."

I simply rotate my right arm while my left-hand rests on my right shoulder. "These gorillas aren't gonna beat themselves. Let's go."

The three of us move faster than the eye can track, heading west towards Keystone City. On the way there our earpieces activate. _"Superman, Kid Flash, Apex, I take it the three of you are on your way to deal with Gorilla Grodd and his army?"_ Martian Manhunter asks.

"That's right, J'onn. How bad is it looking?" Superman asks.

There's a momentary pause before Martian Manhunter replies. _"Rather serious. Hawkman and Red Tornado are on site. Although the strength of Grodd's army is slowly pushing them back. Your assistance would be appreciated."_

"Did Hawkman say that?" Superman wonders.

_"We both know the answer to that,"_ Martian Manhunter dryly replies. _"I will leave the three of you to handle this, the Russia team has called in,"_ the communication goes dead.

Looking ahead I see the army of gorillas. Most are attacking the city at random, putting civilians in harm's way, while others are keeping Hawkman and Red Tornado pinned down. Grodd among them.

Wally disappears for a moment before coming back in his Kid Flash suit.

"I'll help Hawkman and Red Tornado deal with Grodd and his elite guard. Kid, get the civilians out of here. Apex, I want you to take out the other gorilla's, got it?" Superman orders.

Kid Flash and I nod.

The three of us split up. Superman slams fists first into Gorilla Grodd, taking a lot of the pressure off of Hawkman and Red Tornado.

Some of the gorillas attempt to fire on some civilians, but as soon as the laser bolts leave the barrels, Kid Flash runs by, picking up the three. The gorillas stare in shock for a moment before growling. "The small speedster is here!" One of them shouts.

Kid Flash stops and stares at them incredulously. "The fuck you mean "small"?"

I flip mid-air and kick a gorilla behind him with both of my feet, sending it flying into a nearby donut shop. "Quit your whining, you got civilians to save, remember?"

Kid Flash grumbles before lowering his goggles. "Save some for me."

"No promises," I counter. I leap back, avoiding an axe swing from one of them. I pounce forward, headfirst, slamming into the gorilla's chest piece. A hammer to the side of the face sends me sliding towards the League members, Hawkman stops me from sliding any further.

"You good? Wait, stay down," he swings his mace into one of the gorillas, knocking it back.

While it's still back, I hit it with some heat vision. "Yeah, I'm fine! Where the hell did these guys come from? Wouldn't the Watchtower's monitor room have detected these guys ages ago?"

"They just appeared. They probably have a teleporter assisting them. Dr. Fate detected something just before they got here, so magic's gotta be the answer," Hawkman answers.

Grodd slams into the ground ahead of us. He snorts air through his nose before raising a hand, the gorillas all stop.

Grodd's a massive, black furred gorilla with a red cape and golden shoulder pads, ornate necklace, a red belt connected to red loincloth, and helmet with a horn in the center of the forehead. His yellow eyes show the intelligence he possesses.

The five of us stand together, interested to see where this is gonna go.

Grodd dramatically lowers his hand, pointing at me, much to our surprise. "You. Apex. I demand you come with me," he orders. It's weird, like Martian Manhunter, he speaks both physically and mentally. Unlike Martian Manhunter, it's rough, and it hurts.

Superman steps forward, standing in front of me. "Why do you want him, Grodd?" He glares.

"According to your inferior news this "Apex" is more powerful than you are, Superman, and he is only human. With his DNA my people can become far more powerful, my telepathic skills we be unbelievable!" He takes a calming breath before turning back to us. "Give me the boy, and I promise your city will be unharmed by my bombs."

"Bombs!?" Kid Flash shouts in shock.

Kid Flash takes a step back, but Grodd immediately lifts a finger. "That would be…unwise," Grodd warns. "If Superman, Apex, or…Kid Flash," he growls. "Disappear, the bombs will be detonated. But, if Apex were to come with me, then no harm will be done to your city."

Giant red portals appear mid-air, from them come drop ships. The gorillas gather some of their fallen comrades and head towards the ships.

Ten of the gorillas stand by. "These ten will report to me. If you even move before I give them the signal to stand down," his finger jerks to the button, causing all of us to grit our teeth. "Goodbye to your home, Kid Flash. You get two minutes."

The five of us stand in a circle together. "How fast can you three move?" Hawkman whispers.

"Well, we _can _move faster than the human eye can see, but these guys aren't exactly human, and who knows what could happen," Kid Flash says.

"I'll just go with 'em," I nonchalantly say.

The four of them turn to me, Hawkman, Kid Flash, and Superman look at me with wide eyes. Superman then narrows his eyes. "Apex. No."

"C'mon, Superman, think about it. They've got some new magic friend and I can more than handle myself. I could go with them, figure out who their ally is, and then escape. Hell, while I'm leaving, I could make those gorillas see what I want them to see," I try to convince him.

While he still looks unconvinced Hawkman nods. "I see the reasoning. I say you go for it."

Red Tornado nods. _"I concur. Apex's plan could inform us as to why the villains pertaining to magic have been disappearing lately."_

"I don't know. Apex, this is your first time dealing with Grodd, hell, it's your first time dealing with magic used against you, are you sure about this?" Kid Flash asks.

"It is time!" Grodd shouts.

We look at Grodd as he stands impatiently before one of his ships. I turn to the others, a calming smile on my face. "Don't worry, I got this," I telepathically reach out and mess with the ten gorillas who are supposed to keep an eye on my teammates.

Aaand done, they're now trapped in a mental loop. Damn, I'm good.

Grodd smirks in victory once I stop in front of him. "I see your powers make you smarter than the other humans," he drops his hand over my shoulder and pushes me into the ship. I stay mid-air and just float into it, looking back and waving as the ramp closes.

I feel Grodd's presence in my mind. _"Sleep," _he orders.

His mental "suggestion" only partially works. Instead of falling asleep, I'm drowsy. What the hell, let's play along, I could use a nap. My eyes close as I drop face first onto the ground.

"Take this one to the cells. I want to watch as the city is destroyed," I hear Grodd say.

Knew he wouldn't keep his end of the deal.

I get dragged through the ship. Well, time to do some super spy stuff.

* * *

Eventually I'm "woken up" at Gorilla City, or whatever it's called. "Wake up," one of the guard's orders.

Opening my eyes, I find myself in a throne room, Grodd sitting on the throne, breathing heavily as he glares at me. "You. How did you stop the detonation of the bombs? How did one of my ships go missing?" He demands.

I smirk. _"Maybe I'm a more powerful telepath than you are? Ever thought about that?"_

He roars in rage before attempting to enter my head, but my defenses keep him out. Grodd growls more as he intensifies his attack, causing me to grit my teeth as his strength surprises me.

While this is happening, the other gorillas run forward and attempt to stab me with their weapons. They shatter against me, which lets me focus on my mental battle with Grodd.

Laughter resounds from behind Grodd's throne.

Everything around me stops.

From around the throne steps a thin pale, almost blue-skinned man. He wears a black suit with a white dress shirt. His hair's styled to look like two devil horns. He has a large smile on his face as his hands have red glowing clock symbols around his wrists. The cat around his shoulders tells me who this is.

Klarion the Witch Boy.

"You must be Apex. You know, you've had one hell of an effect on the world of heroes and villains," he walks around Grodd, poking him in the cheek. "After today everybody's gonna have their eyes on you. Oh, where are my manners? My name is, Klarion the Witch Boy, and this is my familiar, Teekl," the cat meows.

"Why're you helping Grodd?" I ask.

He shrugs as he walks towards me. Once he reaches me, he walks around me, studying me. "I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Won't lie, kind of impressed," he stops in front of me and smiles. "Well, off you go!"

He claps his hands.

* * *

We're back in Keystone City.

"What the…" Hawkman mutters. "What happened? We were on the dropship on our way to assist you when BOOM we ended up here."

_"Apex?"_ Red Tornado asks.

"He's working with a powerful magic user named Klarion the Witch Boy. Apparently Klarion only allied with him to get some info on me," I answer.

_"Klarion the Witch Boy, known enemy of Doctor Fate and Zatara. Also known to be extremely powerful and dangerous. Should contact be made, immediately inform Dr. Fate,_" Red Tornado reports.

"Right," Superman nods. "Let's head to the Watchtower, tell Dr. Fate what's going on."

The commlink for the Teen Titans goes off. Kid Flash and I put our fingers on our communicators as Garth begins to speak. _"Hey, Kid, Apex, we've got some info on the Fearsome Five."_

"Right, we're on our way," I turn to the three Leaguers. "Sorry, we've got something on the Fearsome Five, you guys can tell Dr. Fate what's going on?"

The three nod. Red Tornado steps away a little bit to call down for teleportation.

"You can count on us. By the way, you two did good today, see you later," Hawkman compliments.

Superman nods before the three are teleported to the Watchtower. I turn to Kid. "You wanna run to base?"

He shakes his head. "Can we get teleported to base please? I don't wanna run."

_"On it,"_ Garth replies.

* * *

Once at base, Kid Flash lowers his cowl. "What do you guys got?"

Garth is standing at the teleporting station. "We might have their location, c'mon, let's head to the mission room."

The three of us head to the other room, here we find the others waiting in their suits, although Lilith, Roy, and Dick don't have their masks on.

"What's up, you two? How're things in Keystone?" Lilith asks.

"It was a gorilla attack, it'll be fine by midnight," Wally calmly replies. "Besides, there was more to it than just that," he pointedly looks at me.

"What do you mean?" Roy asks.

"Some guy called Klarion the Witch Boy was helping Grodd and his people. But he only did it to meet me. Really don't like the thought of that, I won't lie," I answer as I go and stand next to Dick. "You said you found the Fearsome Five?"

Dick pulls up the map, a location in another part of San Francisco is highlighted. "The Five have taken over the hideout of a small-time gang Roy and I were planning on taking out sometime within the month."

"The gang?" I ask.

"Some of the leaders and who we can assume to be those who stood against them have been found dead, but what's left of them have sworn allegiance to the Five," Dick answers.

"Well, two birds with one stone," Wally says. "We can take both sides out in one go."

Donna gives Wally a stern look as she folds her arms. "Wally, they have the numbers advantage. And even if they have gang members, we should still be careful."

"I know, I know, but c'mon, Donna, they're gang members, as long as we're careful we'll only have to worry about Light and his goonies," Wally counters.

"He's got a point, Donna," Garth agrees. "Besides, he and Daichi can handle their minions immediately."

Before Donna can voice her retort, the power goes out momentarily. Looking outside I see the city's also having a blackout, the only light being the one from the stars. Eventually the power comes back on in the tower.

"How did that happen? I was led to believe the tower was on its own power source," Kory wonders.

The power comes back up in the city, Dick looks at the base of the Five. After inputting some commands, we see a history of the power supply for the building. "It is, but whatever caused that surge wasn't working based off of powerlines, that way it could gather energy from anything within a radius."

"It must be one massive radius then," Lilith comments.

"Well, let's hit them," Donna steps forward as she cracks her neck.

I pull up a diagnostic of the building. Yeah, just as I thought. "The teleporters aren't gonna work. We'll need to use the jet in the hangar," I announce.

"Why are the teleporters down?" Kory asks.

"If we're gonna move our molecules from one place to another instantaneously we're gonna need full power. Who knows, if we were to teleport now me and Dick might swap our right legs," I theorize.

"I'm not having any of that. Your tree legs can stay on you, I'm fine with my little acrobat legs," Dick replies. He looks at his legs fondly and pats them. "You two have never failed me," he whispers.

Dick becomes serious and puts on his mask. Lilith follows suit and lifts her mask and puts on her hoodie. Wally puts his cowl back on, and Roy laughs as he puts on his mask and hat. "All right, let's take these assholes down."

As we head to the elevator, Wonder Girl bumps her shoulder into mine. "So, your first fight with hyper-intelligent gorillas. How was it?"

I hum as I take a moment to think about it. "Y'know, after fifteen years of fighting alien creatures and whatnot, it's strange fighting something that doesn't have four arms or has spikes sticking out of its knees. Maybe I should fight a mutant platypus, they've got some weird things going for them that even I can't understand."

Omen laughs as she overhears. "You aren't the only one, Apex. Aqualad actually tried talking to one once."

We all stare at him as the elevator lowers. "It was hard to understand, almost like it was speaking in extremely broken English. My head hurt for a while, actually," he tells us.

The elevator opens to reveal the hangar of our base. In it we see some vehicles, motorcycles for each of us, some cars, and in the center is a large jet. Looking at it reminds me of the Javelins from the _Justice League/Unlimited _series.

Once in the jet, me and Robin sit in the pilot and co-pilot seat, respectively. I fiddle with the dashboard as the doors in the distance begin to open. The Javelin powers up as it follows the trail towards the doors. After going through an underwater tube, the jet then takes to the air. The dashboard activates to show the map from our current location to the hideout.

"We'll be there in about two minutes, so get ready quick guys. Things are about to get loud," Robin warns.

"Kind of a waste to fly the jet for only two minutes, but it was fun. Hope to have longer flights," I comment as we reach our destination.

I land the jet a distance away, about a mile away, actually.

Once the ramp lowers, we all rush out of the Javelin. Robin fires a grappling hook to one of the nearby buildings, Speedy doing the same. Kid Flash runs up the building and the rest of us just fly up. On the roof we see the hideout, thugs standing guard and patrolling the building.

I use my telescopic vision and notice that all of the guards have blank looks on their faces. Swapping to x-ray I see the Five standing around a machine, some well-dressed men among them, and these guys don't have blank looks, but they do look on edge. I turn to the team, particularly Omen. "The grunts look like they're being mind controlled. Omen?"

She places some fingers on her head as her eyes glow green. She turns back and nods. "Psimon has them under his control. But not all of them, strangely enough."

Robin nods as he pulls out some binoculars. "Right, right. Did you see what caused the power outage, Apex?"

"Some weird ball-looking thing, Doctor Light was focusing intensely on it. If I were to guess, I'd say they're using that to power him up. Speedy, you should take that out as your first priority, the rest of you will deal with the Five," I order.

Kid Flash nods. "And me and you will take on the gang."

Robin puts the binoculars away and aims his grappling hook at the building. "All right, we all know what to do. Teen Titans Together!"

Robin and Speedy swing towards the building. The thugs see them, they aim their guns up, but before they can shoot, Starfire hits them with some star bolts, taking them down. Makes our job a little easier, thanks, Star.

Kid Flash runs down the building and takes on the guards from the east side of the building, I take the west.

As I float, the psychic zombies shoot at me, and they keep shooting, even though the bullets do nothing. I roll my eyes in annoyance before dropping down, my fists coated in energy raised high. I connect with the floor and slam my fists down, creating an energy quake that knocks them all out.

One of the bigger ones slams a hammer into my face, it shatters on impact. I look up to see that it's another psychic zombie. I take a deep breath before swinging my head up, hitting his chin with the top of my head, sending him flying into a dumpster.

Kid Flash stops next to me. "My guys're down," a door in the distance opens, from the dark space comes two people, each with swords and solid color masks. One silver, one gold. Kid Flash leans towards me. "They seem like big deals," he quips.

I mentally scan the two. "They aren't being mind controlled," I try to knock them out, to no avail. I growl in annoyance. "But they have psi-shields. Their helmets, most likely being the reason why."

"Get rid of the helmets and you can make them go to bed, got it," Kid Flash says. He runs towards the one with the silver mask. The Silver swings her sword, barely missing Kid Flash as he bends backwards under it.

Gold comes running to me, faster than a normal human should. He jumps up and stabs his sword into the ground with a roar. He then raises the blade, showing the lava and earth now forming around the blade. Looks like they're metahumans.

Gold swings his sword, hitting me in the cheek. The blade doesn't cut but it does sting, I stumble back, surprised at the strength behind the hit. They aren't super strong, but with enough hits in the right places they can cause some damage. Gotta be careful.

I lean my body forward and run towards Gold, dodging one of his swings, I get back into position and launch my fists forward, slamming into Gold's abdomen. He wheezes in pain as I scoop upwards, sending him into the wall. One of Starfire's star bolts breaks the wall right next to him.

Gold drops onto the ground. While down, he places his hand on the ground, just below me the stone floor melts into lava and creeps up my leg, the lava covers my body up to my neck before hardening quickly. Gold shoulder charges me, breaking my connection with the ground, but still keeping the lava shell around me.

He then swings his sword towards my head. I quickly vibrate, forcing the sword to go through me and cause it to be stuck into the floor. I phase through the shell and sweep Gold's feet out from under him.

I then jump onto my feet and slam my right foot into Gold's chest. He lets out another wheeze before falling unconscious. Just to be sure, I take off his mask and telepathically keep him knocked out for a while.

Hm, he's got a relatively young face, probably mid-twenties to early thirties. He has a light blond beard and short blond hair, a scar on his left cheek.

"APEX!" Kid Flash shouts.

Looking up, I see him running towards me, Silver close behind with the help of a small tornado, some ice shards floating around in it.

Once Kid Flash reaches me, I swing my arm out for a clothesline. Again, he leans back as he slides under it, Silver slams into my arm, but before she falls down, she wraps her legs around my arm and flips over, sending me into her little tornado. The winds from the tornado keep me aloft, little shards of ice then hit me in the eyes, ears, and nose, causing great discomfort and some pain.

Kid Flash speeds over and slams into Silver, sending her away. "You okay?"

I growl as he helps me up. "Been better. Gold here was able to control the earth and lava. Silver seems to be his opposite. Wind and ice."

"Yeah, and she's got enhanced physical prowess. She uses the wind to boost her speed. Won't lie, she's pretty fast," Kid Flash compliments.

Wait… "Fast! Keep her busy. See the building they came out of?" I nod towards it, he nods. "I'll make it a trap."

Kid Flash runs towards her as soon as she recovers, leading to a speedster battle between the two. He slowly leads her towards the building, but just before she springs my trap, Mammoth comes flying through the roof, landing on Silver.

Kid and I stare blankly and blink. Well, that happened.

He speeds next to me. "You think he's out?"

Mammoth roars as he jumps onto his feet, his landing shaking the ground. I lean towards him. "No, I don't think he is."

"Don't move, his vision's based on movement," Kid quips.

"Okay, first, that'd only apply if he were a T-rex. Two, it isn't even true," I counter. Mammoth roars and rushes towards us. "Told you."

A more feminine roar then comes from the hole made by Starfire earlier, a red and blue blur then slams into Mammoth, sending him flying into an abandoned facility.

Wonder Girl lets out a breath as she whips a strand of hair back. She turns to us and smiles. "Kid, your help is needed inside."

Kid Flash nods before speeding into the building, where explosions, light beams, star bolts, nuclear blasts and all other manner of attacks goes on. Turning to Wonder Girl I see some soot marks on her face. The hell happened in there?

"You, uh, you good?" I cautiously ask.

Mammoth stampedes towards us.

Wonder Girl runs towards him, she jumps in the air and hits him with a snap kick to the side of the head, sending him skidding towards me. "I've been better. That device they have powers Doctor Light up exponentially."

I tackle Mammoth's leg as he stumbles towards me. Using more strength than I have in a while, I lean back and lift him up, spinning twice I let go and send him flying into the building Gold and Silver came from. "I guess just shooting an arrow at it wouldn't work."

Wonder Girl shakes her head. Once Mammoth gets up, she grabs her shield and throws it at him Captain America style, sending the giant down. The shield comes back to her waiting arm. "Either it has a hard-light shield or Doctor Light is providing it."

"He can make hard-light now. Like the Lanterns?" I ask.

A chunk of the building collides with me, sending me into the ground. Crap, that actually hurt.

Wonder Girl's sent flying back, thankfully her shield's up, taking the brunt of the damage.

The piece of the building on top of me is lifted up. Mammoth looks down and smirks before slamming it into me again, winding me and causing pain to blossom. He wasn't this strong last time, what the hell?

"How," he slams the rock down again. "Are," again. "You," again. "So," again. "Strong?" I ask as he keeps slamming the rock down.

He chuckles as he tosses the rock aside, picking me up by the front of my suit. "I like to have some fun with my prey, ya understand? I wanted to see how strong you are, and you don't disappoint. Not. One. Bit," his other fists swings forward, sending me flying away.

Dammit, that's how I work too.

With another roar Mammoth leaps into the air, he then falls down feet first, attempting to stomp me into the ground. Wonder Girl comes flying in and hits him with an uppercut that causes some of the windows to shatter. She lands next to me and growls as she draws her sword and shield again.

"I don't like it when people hurt my friends," she threatens.

I try to get up but cry out in pain. Goddamn, feels like some of my ribs are broken. Wonder Girl looks at me from the corner of her eye. "Stay down, Apex. I've got this."

I wave aside her concerns. "I'll leave him to you for a minute. Once my healing factor kicks in, I'm gonna get some hits in."

Wonder Girl and Mammoth let out roars as they charge towards each other, their hits causing some more windows to break and the ground to shake. I lay down, trying to ignore the mini earthquakes, but it's hard, having broken ribs and laying on a shaking ground doesn't help.

Sighing in annoyance I float, feeling my ribs coming back together and my muscles mending themselves.

Wonder Girl gets in a good slash, cutting Mammoth's left cheek. She then follows up with a kick to his neck, which leads to him reaching up and grasping at his throat. She then slams her shield into his nose, a crunching noise heard from the connection. I broke his nose last time, and now she's adding to the damage.

Mammoth then swings his head forward, hitting Wonder Girl full force in her abdominal area, sending her next to me. I land on the ground and get into a fighting stance. "All right, I'm gonna help."

Wonder Girl laughs before wincing, clutching at her ribs. "I've got this, don't worry."

Mammoth slaps his chest twice before rearing back with a massive roar that deafens me. I feel my blood pump at that. I do love a good fight.

I launch forward and slam shoulder first into Mammoth's chest, sending him skidding back. While I'm still pushing him back, he slams a fist into my side, sending me down into his rising knee, sending me up. Mammoth then hits me with a headbutt, causing my senses to explode due to the force behind it.

As I reel back, Mammoth's massive hand grabs the entire upper half of my body. He swings his arm down and slams me into the ground repeatedly.

Wonder Girl flies forward and slashes his arm, forcing him to jerk back in pain. Wonder Girl looks at me and widens her eyes slightly in surprise.

I feel a giant grin on my face as I begin to breathe heavily. I get up and fire a concussive blast of energy from my mouth with a roar, sending Mammoth flying into the air.

I turn to Wonder Girl. "I was built to be the best, any chance to test my skill I take. Kinda overtakes my more tactical brain though. Whatever."

"You fight to fight?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

"That, and to improve myself. After fights that really test me, I get a little stronger after it, the worse the battle the better the boost. Kinda like a zenkai boost from _Dragon Ball Z_!" I announce happily.

An explosion breaks the wall of the building. Wonder Girl puts her shield up in front of us as we wait for the dust to settle. Before the dust even begins to settle, Robin comes tumbling towards us, we stare as he rolls towards us, grunting the entire way.

Robin stays on the ground as he looks up at us. Wonder Girl and I look over her shield. "Need help?" She asks.

Robin claps his hands together. "Please," he begs.

Wonder Girl helps him up and heads towards the fight. "How's it looking?"

"Neutron's keeping Star and Aqualad busy. Omen and Psimon are doing their telepath thing. Kid's barely holding his ground against Shimmer thanks to her powers. And me and Speedy are trying to get Doctor Light and his machine. It isn't working great," he stops and looks around. "Wait, what about Mammoth?"

A loud whistling sound is heard, looking up we see Mammoth falling towards the Earth, already knocked out. I point up at him. "That's about Mammoth," the three of us pause and stare as he gets closer and closer. "We should go."

The three of us run into the building just as Mammoth connects with the ground, a massive earthquake going off that makes everyone but Starfire stumble.

Doctor Light turns to the tree of us, a smirk growing on his face once he sees me. "Ah, Apex! I've been meaning to test this out. Let us see if you can absorb my new power!"

Man, he sounds like a stereotypical Saturday morning cartoon villain. The blast of energy connects with me, forcing me to slide back. Huh, that…hurts. I reach my arms out and begin to absorb the energy, but I feel different about this. Stronger.

The skin around my arms begins to glow orange and lets off some black orbs of energy, my eyes emit a strong orange glow, and my hair begins to glow orange as well, and it begins to stand up. I feel uncomfortable. I need to get rid of this. Now.

Behind me Mammoth comes running into the building, guess what? He's roaring. I quickly turn around and fire all the excess energy and hit him right in the chest. He lets out a loud grunt of pain as he flies through the wall, landing on the ground knocked out.

Everyone stops and stares in shock. Hell, even I do. Definitely didn't expect _that _power boost from an Earth device.

Neutron flies headfirst and slams into my back as everyone stares. While I'm on the ground he raises his fists and slams them into my chest, nearly cracking some ribs. Before the third strike, Aqualad's leg connects with this chin, sending him back.

During that, chaos erupts again.

Psimon wakes up some of the gangsters inside of the building, bolstering their numbers again, Omen then enters another psychic battle with him. Starfire and Speedy hold back an empowered Doctor Light. Robin and Kid Flash fight the reawakened gangsters, and Wonder Girl deals with Shimmer.

Neutron fires at me and Aqualad, but Aqualad puts up a magic shield, protecting us. "This place is right on top of a plumbing grid," he explains. "Keep him busy while I gather the water, yeah?"

I nod as I get in a runner's position. "Yeah. Let's go."

The moment the shield goes down I run forward, taking Neutron's attack head-on, absorbing it the entire way. Once at arm's length, I swing forward and connect with his face plate, sending him flipping back. While he's midair I slam my elbow into his throat, sending him into the ground. Keeping the pressure on, I place my hand on his helmet and fire a concussive blast point blank, denting his head into the floor.

Neutron's other hand swings forward and slams into my side, forcing me to let go. Neutron plants his hands into the ground and fires a quick blast, helping him get his head out of the floor. Standing up, he kicks me in the back, before hitting me with a clothesline coated by energy, which makes me grasp at my throat in pain.

He brings his hands together before swinging down. Using the opening between his arms, I snap my legs out, connecting with his chest, sending him into the catwalks above. I then fly up, grab him by the shoulders, twist around, and fly down, slamming him into the ground. Keeping him pinned down with my left arm I punch him in the face plate repeatedly with my right.

I look up at Aqualad as I keep Neutron pinned. "How much longer, Aqualad?"

He opens his eyes; they glow with a strong purple energy. "Now."

The ground beneath us shakes, causing everyone to once again stop fighting.

"Stand by me!" Aqualad shouts.

We all fly over to him; Kid Flash quickly runs with Speedy and Robin towards Aqualad. Everything around us explodes into a massive tsunami, drowning the entire building. The water moves around us in a sphere shape, all thanks to Aqualad's actions.

Eventually the water dies down, and once it does, we see the only ones left standing are Neutron, who looks like he's on his last legs. And Doctor Light and Psimon, who look haggard but are still protected by the device powering up Doctor Light's suit.

Speaking of the device, it's sparking. A lot.

That doesn't look good.

Doctor Light looks at the device, he then breaks out into laughter as the building collapses around us. Me and Omen use our telekinesis to stop the rubble from falling on us.

Once everything stops, Doctor Light holds his arms out. "Well, looks like things are about to get far more interesting!"

"The hell do you mean?" Speedy asks.

Doctor Light pats the device. "We all saw what happened when Apex absorbed the energy from my beautiful creation. Just imagine what would happen if it were to explode! Especially in such a packed city! Oooooh, the chaos will be amazing!" He breaks out into another fit of laughter.

The eight of us stand together, glaring at Doctor Light and Psimon.

I knew it didn't look good.

* * *

**A/N: 8/29/2020:**

**For a moment, my internet died, making me think these chapters would be updated next week, but hey! One more chapter then the overhauls are done! **

**Fixing this chapter made me notice a few mistakes I've been worried about when writing my X-Men story: mixing up names. When Jon burst into Daichi's room during the call, Wally called him "Nolan," which is the name to the main character of **_**A Sinister Past.**_** And Red Tornado had called Klarion an enemy of Dr. Strange, not Dr. Fate. Goddammit. At least I was able to fix it. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you two Saturdays from now, you beautiful people! **


	6. Light up the Night

**A/N 8/29/2020:**

**Maaan, this took longer than expected, oh well. **

**Here we are with the final overhauled chapter. Now, if you notice any mistakes that have managed to stay in the previous chapters, please tell me, I'd greatly appreciate it. But also, it looks like the chapters are posted next Saturday instead of the time writing this. Well, least I get to look through them one more time.**

**I don't have a lot to say up here, so, on with the story!**

* * *

**Light up the Night**

_"All right, this isn't looking so hot," _Robin thinks over the telepathic conversation.

_"Wow, you really _are_ trained by the World's Greatest Detective,"_ Kid Flash dryly replies.

_"Get serious you two," _I admonish. _"Neutron's on his last legs, but don't underestimate him. Psimon's taken some hits thanks to Omen. Doctor Light's the problem, that thing powers him up, and with that shield it'll be hard to deal with it and him at the same time."_

_"What about Mammoth?" _Speedy asks.

Doctor Light begins his attack, a light beam forces us to roll out of the way. Wonder Girl puts up her shield, protecting her and Speedy as he nocks an arrow. She chances a glance through the hole I shot him through. _"I don't think he's getting up anytime soon," _she answers.

Robin throws some birdarangs at Neutron that explode once they make contact, knocking him off his feet and headfirst into a water construct made by Aqualad. _"Which leads to my plan. Apex, think you can absorb the energy of his device?"_ Robin asks.

_"I know I can,"_ I reply. Using my speed, I stand in front of Omen and protect her from a shot from Doctor Light as she fights Psimon in a mental battle. _"Just two problems: first, I need to get past the shield, second, I need a way to disperse the energy safely."_

_"All right. Kid Flash, Aqualad, Starfire, the four of us will deal with Neutron. Omen's got Psimon, and with how messed up he is, the fight won't take long. Speedy, Wonder Girl, do whatever you can to help Apex get through the shield. Got it?" _Robin plans.

_"Got it,"_ we reply.

I close the telepathic call as I dodge another shot from Doctor Light. But as soon as my feet land he shoots at me again, causing pain to flash in my side as I slide back. While I reach for the area, he hit me at, he goes for another attack, but Wonder Girl comes in and blocks it with her bracers. "Are you okay?" She asks.

"Yeah, just give me a minute to heal, that blast actually hurts a little," I take a deep breath as I feel the damage repair itself. "I think he's going for me specifically."

We look to see him shoot some blasts at Speedy with one hand, but the other focuses on us, pushing Wonder Girl back slowly as the beam continues to impact her bracers. "I've noticed that too. I think I know why. Dodge in three, by the way."

I nod as we silently count, once we reach three, we roll out of the way and I hit his beam with my own, having to plant my feet down to not get blasted back. Dammit, how much power does that thing give him? "What's your theory?" I shout to Wonder Girl.

She looks to be thinking something over before shrugging. She grabs her shield and throws it at Doctor Light's barrier, as expected it just bounces off. Once she catches it, Speedy looks at her with an incredulous look. "What the hell did you expect?" He asks.

She just shrugs as she avoids a bolt. "Never know what could work and what won't. That's what my sister taught me."

I grit my teeth before quickly blasting downwards, rocketing me up in the sky, avoiding the light beam. "Your theory, Wonder Girl!"

"Simple, since your arrival you've been the number one topic in the superhero community for a little over a month now. Doctor Light believes that by defeating you he will become the number one supervillain," she answers.

It makes sense, honestly. Reminds me of that whole prison totem pole thing, if the new guy takes down the top dog then no one would be crazy enough to mess with them. Wonder if it actually works. Whatever, it won't work for Doctor Light, we'll make sure of that.

One of his hits gets lucky and slams into my chest, sending me through the roof. I then flip a little in the air before slamming down on the roof, staring up at the night sky. I take a deep breath before slowly getting up and floating higher into the air, energy building up in my fists. Once I feel a good amount of energy built up—enough to probably damage his shield, but not enough to cause an explosion that could kill everyone in a five-mile radius—I fire down, hitting Doctor Light's shield full force.

I feel Omen's presence in my mind. _"Uh, should we get out?"_

_"You should."_

I can see the group exiting through the hole in the wall made by Mammoth, an unconscious Shimmer being carried by Starfire. Good.

Once they're out, I increase the power output, causing the building to sink in on itself due to the damage done by my attack. With one more roar I shoot a quick burst that travels down the beam, causing the building to collapse on itself, dust kicks up, obscuring our vision.

I land down with the group as they all keep an eye on the dust cloud. Speedy and Robin activate their infrared vision using their domino masks and Kid Flash lowers his goggles, doing the same thing. I decide to help by using my infrared vision. Almost immediately I see a massive source of heat in the center of the cloud, and it looks like it's getting…brighter?

"MOVE!" Speedy shouts.

The others move out of the way, but I don't, I mean, let's say I dodge, does that mean the beam's gonna stop? No. In fact, it might hit some unsuspecting person and ruin their day, and I can't let that happen.

I hold my arms out and brace, my energy absorption ready. The massive pillar of light connects with my outstretched hands, causing me to roar in pain as the light actually begins to burn my skin, I'm also slowly being pushed back, but I'm still able to absorb the energy. Mostly.

It doesn't seem like he's letting up. Even digging my feet into the ground barely helps, it just stops me from sliding back as fast.

I stop moving. Looking behind me, I see Wonder Girl, her back against mine, an encouraging smile on her face. "You've got this, Dai, I know you do."

Well, can't lose now, can I? I feel a smirk grow on my face as I redouble my efforts. Eventually, the dust settles, and we see Psimon slumped over, Doctor Light glaring through the cracked shield. But the device worries me the most.

It's sparking far more now than it did a while ago.

Aqualad uses the water leftover from his miniature flood to try and wrap it around the bubble. The water just evaporates on contact. He grits his teeth as he stops. Wait, we can use that.

_"Aqualad, don't stop! With the steam we can move all over the place, he'd have to fire everywhere!"_ I mentally shout

_"Apex is right!" _Robin agrees. _"While you guys keep him distracted, I can try to find a way to get past his barrier!"_

_"On it,"_ Aqualad replies, a look of steely determination on his face.

The water comes back full force, enveloping the area in a smokescreen that leads to Doctor Light stopping his attack. I slump down and breath heavily. Who knew such a joke villain would be this powerful? Wonder Girl puts a hand on my shoulder and another around my abdomen, all to stop me from falling over.

"You okay?" She asks, her face dangerously close to mine.

Goddammit, heart, don't beat so fast now. C'mon Daichi, you're in a fight that could lead to the deaths of tons of people, be serious right now. Besides, you can worry about your girl problems later. Nope, still blushing. I look away before coughing my answer. "Y-yeah, I-I'm fine."

She backs up, but the hand on my shoulder doesn't leave. "Well, let's swarm him, yes?" She asks, a smirk on her face as she draws her sword.

I step forward, her hand falls off my shoulder. "Yeah, let's do it."

The two of us jump into the cover of the steam, joining our teammates and avoiding any errant blasts from a growingly frantic Doctor Light.

While zipping around, I use my speed to absorb as many enhanced blasts of light that go for my less squishy teammates (Omen, Speedy, and Kid Flash, in particular). I also notice that Starfire's absorbing some blasts as well, probably better than me, actually.

She and I fly side-by-side, after absorbing some more energy we share a nod, and I fly to the other side of his barrier. The others back up as me and Starfire prepare our superpowered blasts. With a thrust of our arms, her green star bolts and my orange energy blasts slam into both sides of his barrier, creating more cracks and causing some pits into the bubble where the attacks hit.

A massive flash of light then goes off, sending us flying back due to the force behind the attack and blinds us. As my eyesight recovers, I use my sense of hearing to realize that Doctor Light is flying away by shooting blasts of light energy below him, propelling himself and an unconscious Psimon away from us.

My eyesight comes back just as I see them jump over the nearby building, I then hear a car alarm go off as the light bubble lands on it.

We all stand around Robin as he continues to create, I'd guess, a virus to deactivate Doctor Light's power-up device. Kid Flash looks over his shoulder and looks over the data scrolling along the holographic screen above Robin's glove. "How's it looking?"

"It's coming along, it'll take a while though," Robin pauses and looks at the team. "Why are you all here!?"

"We just wanted to see how your plan is going. Was that wrong?" Starfire asks.

Robin immediately calms down. "Um, uh…no, it's perfectly fine. It'd just be better if you guys went to go stop him."

Aqualad and I share a smirk just as I hear sirens in the distance. I look towards the direction, getting Omen's attentions. "What's up, Apex?"

"Incoming police," I answer. I then activate my x-ray vision and telescopic vision to see many cars fully capable of holding metahumans coming in. "They've got the right gear to deal with these guys. C'mon guys, let's go stop Doctor Light."

The others nod before heading towards the direction they flew towards, before I can join them, Robin grabs my arm, stopping me. "Hold up."

I turn around and look at him. "What's up, man?"

"You saw how badly Light's ball was, yeah?" He begins. "Well, it's looking a lot like the Gordanian ship, it's gonna explode soon, and if it does it won't be good for anyone in the area."

"How big's the area?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"Five miles, minimum," Robin answers.

Yeah, knew I wouldn't like it.

I nod, getting a good hint as to what he's going to say next. "You want me to fly it up and absorb the energy just in case," I supply. He nods. "You do know Starfire can absorb the energy too, right? Hell, pretty sure she can absorb that type of energy better than I can."

Robin nods. "Yeah, probably, but she can't regenerate like you can."

"Got it. C'mon, let's go, the cops are just around the corner," I say.

Sure enough, the Metahuman Detainment Unit convoy just turns the corner, ready to arrest Neutron, Shimmer, and Mammoth.

Robin pauses his coding and grapples onto the nearby building as I fly beside him. He shows his acrobatic roots by deftly traversing the rooftops, using his grappling hook only when he absolutely has to. I just fly above.

Using my super hearing, x-ray vision, and telescopic vision I can see and hear that the others have caught up with Doctor Light. Starfire and Wonder Girl play defensively, blocking any attacks Doctor Light has aimed for our less durable teammates. Omen throws dilapidated cars and chunks of the destroyed homes nearby to throw at Doctor Light's barrier, it's hard to see, but some damage is done. Speedy shoots his more effective trick arrows mainly smoke and lightning. Aqualad moves among the debris and arrows and punches wherever he can, visibly shaking the barrier. And Kid Flash does the same thing, running around at high speed and hitting everywhere he can.

The two of us stop at a nearby building, overlooking the fight between Doctor Light and our teammates. "Y'know," I begin. "That bubble really does make him stronger. I mean, the first time he was a joke, but with that ball thing he's a lot more powerful."

Robin hums and nods before turning to me. "Wasn't just him. After you absorbed that blast you were literally glowing man, like a Super Saiyan or something."

I let out a quick laugh at that before pointing finger guns at Doctor Light, firing a quick blast that drills a few inches into the barrier. He looks up at us but quickly goes back to focusing on the others when Omen drops another van on him.

"Oh, wait," Robin whispers. "I didn't spoil it for you, did I?"

"Don't worry, I've been here for almost two months, _Dragon Ball Z _was one of the first things I read, and with my super speed I've caught up," I reply. I then aim all five of my fingers at Doctor Light's bubble, five energy drills dig into his barrier. Aqualad slowly fills up the inside with water whenever he can. "Where're you going with this?"

"When he goes for another big blast— 'cause c'mon, he's gonna—absorb it, use that energy back on the dome and do what damage you can," he says.

I hum as I create a small ball of energy and then lazily toss it towards the dome, the resulting explosion sends Doctor Light's barrier bouncing away. One of the cracks on it growing. To test my theory, I fire another finger blast at a crack, this drill slices through the barrier and stabs into Doctor Light's foot.

"Looks like my piercing attacks do more damage than explosive," I mutter. I step on the raised part of the roof, ready to leap down. "Just so you know, last time I absorbed the energy it actually hurt, and I couldn't hold it for too long, so you better get that virus made."

Using my strength and speed I explode out and get in a powerful punch on the barrier, creating another pit and digging it into the ground. The shockwave sends Aqualad and Kid Flash flying back. "Coulda warned us!" The latter shouts.

I ignore him and continue my onslaught.

Before Doctor Light can recover, I rear my leg back and kick the ball-shaped barrier as hard as I can, making it look like a giant, glowing soccer ball soaring through the air. It doesn't stay up for long, I fly up above it and slam both of my fists into it, bringing it down into the ground again.

Omen uses the destroyed sections of the road to her advantage and traps the ball in a larger concrete ball, some light can be seen through the cracks. "What did you do earlier that broke through the barrier? It looked effective," Omen asks.

"I just used piercing energy attacks instead of explosive," I answered. I notice the confused looks on everyone's faces, especially Starfire's. "With an open palm my energy attacks are explosive, a closed fist is concussive, and fingers or sides of my hand are piercing."

Starfire looks at her right hand and copies my motions, an open palm, a fist, then a finger gun. "Does that truly work?"

"Well, for me it does, and the piercing one seems best, so, you should try," I tell her.

"You'll get your chance," Speedy says, an electric arrow nocked. "Look."

The lights shown from the cracks in the concrete ball intensify. We all back up behind a magical shield made by Aqualad.

Shortly after, the concrete surrounding Doctor Light explodes outward, crashing into buildings, destroying run-down cars, and bouncing off of Aqualad's shield. Looking behind him, I can see Psimon's knocked out form on the ground, looks like Doctor Light dropped him.

Doctor Light stomps his foot like an indignant child and fires on the barrier, creating cracks that quickly spread throughout. "WHY!" Another blast which creates more cracks. "WON'T!" Aqualad grits his teeth as he's pushed back, the magic shield covered in cracks. "YOU!" One more hit and the shield will break. "DIE!"

I quickly fly in front of Aqualad as the beam of light breaks through the magic barrier, absorbing the energy.

Again, I feel my power increase immensely, but I also feel violently uncomfortable, holding this much energy's painful, maybe as I grow it'll be easier, but now? Not so much.

I slowly raise a finger and point at the device. Let's hope I don't blow it up.

As soon as the beam leaves my finger, I'm hit with a blast from Doctor Light, throwing my aim off, but it's not all a loss. The beam cuts through part of the shield, making an opening for us to use. The thing is, the barrier begins to repair itself almost immediately, but at a slower pace than expected.

"Kid!" Wonder Girl shouts. "Grab the device!"

"On it!" He nods and lowers his goggles. Kid Flash then runs at speeds faster than I've seen before and grabs the device, but he recoils in pain as steam billows off of his gloves and the sound of burning can be heard.

Doctor Light tries to grab Kid Flash's face, his hand glowing brightly. Reacting quickly, I speed into the bubble and slam into him, tackling him into the other side of the barrier. I then kick the device out of the barrier, but before it exits, the repairing barrier cuts into it a little bit, causing the device to spark violently.

"NOOO!" Doctor Light shouts as he reaches out for the device.

The barrier then falls, leaving him open for a star bolt from Starfire, this one creating a concussive force that knocks him out. I look up to see her fist aimed at him, smoking from the recent concussive blast she just fired. "It works," she smiles.

I give her a thumbs up. "It sure does."

"Uh, guys?" Aqualad calls out. "Is it supposed to do that?"

We all look to see the device sparking even more, increasing in intensity as time goes on. Speedy gulps as he gently pokes it with his bow, we all flinch away as it makes a weird noise before beeping again. "I don't think so," he replies.

I feel Robin land on me, his feet on my shoulders and one hand resting on my head. "Looks like it took a massive amount of damage when the barrier cut into it."

I look up to see him scanning the device. "Can you get off my head?"

He hops off and leans above the device, it's beeping increasing at a scary pace. Robin does some more scans and mutters a whole bunch before turning around, looking at me in particular. "It's gonna blow."

We all stare at him with wide eyes, the only sound being the people living their lives in the distance and the beeping of the device now turned into a bomb. "Fuck," Speedy says.

I sigh deeply before hopping in place, rotating my neck before walking towards the device. I grab it and feel the heat immediately, I can actually feel the heat from it. "Wait, Apex," Wonder Girl interrupts, her hand resting on my arm and a concerned look on her face. "Are you sure about this? The Gordanian ship was different, this actually hurt you."

I shrug my shoulders, hoping to come off as calm and collected. "I can regenerate, no big deal."

"Sorry about not shutting it down in time," Robin says dejectedly.

I smirk and lightly tap his head with my fist. "Robin, seriously, it's no big deal. Besides, I'll regenerate," I turn around and begin to fly upwards. "I'll take a supreme pizza as my victory treat, by the way."

"Ha! Told you I wasn't the only person who liked supreme!" Speedy shouts, getting in Aqualad's face.

The Atlantean just shakes his head, a lighthearted smirk on his face. "Fine, we'll get as many supreme pizzas you want for the hangout."

I let out a laugh before floating higher, the beeping sounding almost constant. "See you guys in a bit."

I fly up, once above the buildings I break the sound barrier, leaving behind the annoying beeping.

As I fly, I notice some of the Justice League coming down. Looking to my left I see Superman and the Green Lanterns flying down. We make eye contact and I smile and wave before increasing my speed, quickly exiting the atmosphere.

The minute the night sky becomes pitch black, everything explodes in a flash of light, blinding me and burning my skin badly. I think the bones in my cheek are now visible. Due to instinct I absorb what I can, which happens to be a lot.

The damage and wounds heal up instantaneously, but my body screams at me to get rid of the energy. With a silent roar I use my entire body to fire a beam of energy into space, hopefully avoiding the Watchtower, the moon, and Mars as the beam travels through space. I _really _hope it hits something uninhabited, otherwise it'll keep on going.

I take a deep breath as I reenter the atmosphere, my body spread out as I fall down, not at all trying to fly.

I fall for a few more seconds before I'm stopped by a soft something. Opening my eyes, I see I've landed on a green pillow, courtesy of Green Lantern John Stewart. He nods at me, a small smirk on his face. "You did good, kid. Take a break, you deserve it."

I give him a thumbs up before laying down on the pillow, closing my eyes and enjoying the night air.

The two of us land, and as soon as I hop off and get up, I'm wrapped in a tight hug by Wonder Girl. "You're okay, thank the gods," she whispers.

Even with Wonder Woman watching the two of us, I slowly return the hug, my face resting on her shoulder. "Told you I'd be okay," I lift my head up and stretch my jaw. "Little sore though."

Looking back, I see Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Dr. Fate, and Vixen talking to the others.

She backs up and boops my nose. "Make sure to get some rest before the hangout, all right?"

I smirk and flex one of my arms. "After that, I don't need to," It is true though, I've never felt as energetic as I do now, wonder what that's about.

Superman, Hal Jordan, and Batman land nearby us, Batman on a disc made by the Green Lantern. Batman turns to the eight of us, all grouped together. "Where are Mammoth and Shimmer?"

Our eyes widen, Wonder Girl and I share a look. "What do you mean? Weren't they arrested with Neutron?" She asks.

"One of the cops told us that they weren't there, they were already gone by the time they arrived," Hal Jordan tells us.

Robin turns to me. "Apex, did you sense anyone else there? We were the last two around them."

I shake my head. "N-no, I was too focused on Doctor Light," I lower my head, angry at myself for letting them escape. "Sorry."

Wonder Girl places her hand under my chin and lifts my head. "Hey, don't say that, it wasn't your fault."

Superman somehow has both a knowing smirk and a genuine smile on his face. "She's right you know, it was good of you to focus on Doctor Light, who knows what would have happened if you didn't."

"The Justice League will put some resources into looking for Mammoth and Shimmer," Batman announces. "Other than that, good work."

Our eyes widen again, we all stare at each other in shock. Did Batman really just compliment us again? That doesn't happen a lot.

"The Fearsome Five was your first supervillain team and you defeated them deftly in all of your encounters. And in your final one you were able to arrest a majority of them. The most dangerous of them, might I add," Batman finishes.

Huh, I don't feel so bad anymore.

Wonder Woman steps forward, her eyes sweeping over all of us, they rest longer on me and Wonder Girl. "Batman is correct, you did well against your first supervillain team, and none of you suffered any broken bones," She jokes. Hal Jordan grumbles as he looks away from her. "Get some rest, you deserve it."

"All right," Hal Jordan says. "Dr. Fate, Vixen, Martian Manhunter, and I will sweep the area, you kids can go home."

We all begin to disperse, but before Wonder Girl can go to her sister, I grab her wrist, stopping her. "Yes?" She asks, an eyebrow raised in interest.

The adrenaline immediately goes away. From the corner of my eye I notice everything: Kid Flash and Omen watching intensely, the former being dragged away by his uncle, Aqualad running face first into a light pole as he watches, blushing in embarrassment as Aquaman laughs, and Superman's stupid grin and dad-level thumbs up.

But what I notice the most is Wonder Woman. She's studying me. Intensely. Man, I'm terrified.

"Daichi?" Wonder Girl asks as she tilts her head in a cute manner, her hair falling over one of her eyes, adding to my nervousness. "Are you okay?"

Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. C'mon, you can do this. _You _are _literally_ the perfect man, asking a girl out shouldn't be this hard.

"_(Do you wanna go out?)_" I ask.

"I'm sorry, my Japanese isn't the best. Could you ask in English?" She asks.

I asked in Japanese. You're one giant freaking moron, Daichi Akiyama.

I take a deep breath before looking in her eyes, ignoring everyone else. "Do you. Wanna. Go out?" I ask slowly, scared of her response.

She has a small smile on her face. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask," she whispers. Wait, what? "Of course, I wanna go out. But I should go home, we'll talk later though, I promise. Oh, and something to keep you enticed," She kisses my cheek before flying alongside Wonder Woman and Starfire. "See you later!"

Oh. That happened.

Without any control, I feel a giant smile breakout on my face. I just asked Donna Troy out successfully. I am the best! Oh, man, now I need to think about our date, what are we gonna do? Watch a movie, eat at a restaurant? So much to do, so little time.

A hand pats my back, taking me out of my fantasies. "Ah, young love, how cute. Reminds me of my days as a young Casanova," Hal Jordan says, wiping a fake tear. "C'mon, you gotta go to the Watchtower."

I look up at him. "What for?"

"We've found something out about the Evolutionary," Batman says, catching Robin's attention.

"The Evolutionary? Who's that?"

I feel Batman's eyes flick towards me, studying me quickly before he looks back at Robin. "The person who made Apex who he is. He's gone missing since Apex arrived."

Robin nods as Superman waves us towards him. Once we get close to him, he activates his earpiece. "Watchtower, this is Superman, requesting a teleportation with a group of five."

After a moment, I feel the now familiar feeling of being torn apart down to our molecules and put back together in another place. Scary how quickly you get used to that.

Shazam waves before inputting other coordinates. Once we get off, he teleports back to Fawcett City. The Dark Knight then turns to the three of us. "Robin, Omen, wait in recreational area, this is a private matter for Apex."

The two share a glance before nodding, heading towards said area.

Batman turns around and heads towards the meeting room, the first place where I met the Justice League. "Come, our guests can fill you in on the details."

The four of us enter the room, Batman in front, me in the middle, and Superman and John Stewart behind me.

After a few moments of walking, giving me a chance of seeing more of the Watchtower. It looks to be made of marble, metal, and something else, something I don't know of. The four of us enter a meeting room, John Stewart turns around and locks the door, meaning this must be pretty serious.

We aren't alone.

At the end of the room I find a Green and Blue Lantern, Tomar-Re and Saint Walker. The two get up and walk towards us, me specifically. The Blue Lantern holds a palm up, as a form of greeting. Tomar-Re just smiles and nods in greeting.

Tomar-Re looks like your average Xudarian, a rather tall humanoid creature with light orange scales, a fin on his head, and a beak. He also wears the standard Green Lantern uniform, which is the same as Hal's, just without the domino mask.

Saint Walker is a tall, thin, humanoid alien with white skin and a long tail going from the back of his head. His Blue Lantern suit looks a lot like the standard Green Lantern one, but the boots go up to his thighs and the gloves are also blue.

"Nice to meet you," the Green Lantern says. Tomar-Re's voice is sophisticated, yet friendly, almost like having a really smart friend who uses big words.

"Yes, I have heard much of you. I am happy to see none of the rumors are true," Saint Walker says. His voice is also friendly, and soft as well. Hearing it gives me hope, which hammers home the idea that he's the first Blue Lantern.

"What, uh, what kind of rumors?" I ask.

"That you are a fire-breathing creature of cosmic terror that destroys everything in your path," Saint Walker answers. "And that's one of the nicer ones."

"Oh."

Batman activates some holographic screens and slides them towards the two, a large screen appearing above the table. "Show him what you found," Batman orders.

Tomar-Re shares a look with John Stewart, the human Green Lantern just shrugs in response. After touching his ring to the screen, the massive one shows footage of parts of The Ship floating around a planet, some bodies floating in space. Bodies I recognize.

"W-what the hell is this?" I breath out.

"I was patrolling my sector when I came across this debris, there were five bodies among the destruction," Tomar-Re answers. "I had no idea who's ship it was until I scanned it, only the Evolutionary uses these materials."

"I had arrived later as Tomar-Re was scanning the ship, bringing in a new perspective," Saint Walker adds. Some close ups of their wrists can be seen, marks clear as day. "From my scans it seems as though they were imprisoned for quite some time. Do you know who imprisoned them?"

I stare at the pictures on the screen.

How the hell did they die? I-I mean, if you didn't know them it'd be pretty damn obvious how they died, but I mean, they're enhanced like me, they should be able to survive. Also, they weren't the ones who died during the attack from the Sinestro Corps, someone else killed them. Maybe after they were killed, they were just thrown out of The Ship by whoever killed them.

The screens change to show written reports, turning around I see that it's Batman who changed the screens. I nod a thanks before turning back to Saint Walker. "I'm sorry, can you ask again?"

He just lowers his head slightly and places a hand on his chest. "No, there is no reason to be sorry. Do you know who imprisoned them? Rumors are flying all across the universe but, well, as we just realized, rumors aren't always true."

"Right, yeah, they aren't," I take a deep breath before looking each of the alien Lanterns in the eyes. "The New Gods took them."

Everyone's eyes widen. John Stewart and Tomar-Re share a look before stepping aside, whispering furiously at each other in one of the corners of the room. Batman quickly activates a console and furiously begins to type. Saint Walker floats and begins to glow blue. Doing what? Who knows.

As they freak out, Superman walks up to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "Daichi, are you sure it was the New Gods? It could've been someone else."

I shake my head; the memory of The Ship being taken away flashing in my mind. "It was them. No one else in the galaxy has ships like them except for Apokoplis, and those ships didn't look deadly. They were…majestic."

Superman mutters in Kryptonese before turning to Batman. "Anything?"

Batman grunts as he swipes the holographic console away, shaking his head. "Neither Mister Miracle nor Big Barda are answering."

"Damn. John?" Superman asks as the Lanterns come back to us.

"I wish we could do something, but the New Gods are outside of our jurisdiction, if we ask about the Evolutionary, we aren't gonna get anything helpful," he answers.

"That's not all," Tomar-Re interrupts.

From out of nowhere he pulls out a thumb drive—since it's from space I call it a space thumb drive—and puts it on the table in front of me. "We found this among the debris. I tried to access it, but I couldn't get through even the login screen, it said "Daichi knows"."

I slowly reach down and gingerly lift the thumb drive up to my face, studying it. "How'd you know I was here?"

John Stewart scratches the back of his head. "A few weeks ago, the Guardians of the Universe wanted me and Hal to make a report on the Gordanian invasion," he answers. "During the debrief you were brought up. The Guardians have a lot of questions."

I sigh deeply. "Of course, they have questions, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone has questions."

"What do you mean?" Superman asks.

"Many people have wanted The Evolutionary, either on their side, imprisoned, or to have his head on a pike," I explain.

"What makes you different?" Batman asks.

"As you guys have for sure noticed, Earth—weirdly enough—seems to be a hotspot for intergalactic events. Once my species was revealed, bounties were placed on my head left, right, and center," I answer. "If word gets out that the Evolutionary's been imprisoned bounty hunters are gonna be coming to Earth in droves," I growl as one stands out. "Lobo's definitely going to be one of them."

"We'll be ready," Superman announces. "If they come, we'll be with you, and the Justice Society, and any other superhero available. You can count on it."

He and I share a smirk as the rings of Tomar-Re and Saint Walker glow and beep. Small messages appear before the two get up and shake our hands. "I'm sorry, but I am needed in Sector 2813, something about "Red Lanterns"?" Tomar-Re turns to me. "If you have any more questions for me just tell one of your Lanterns and they can relay it to me."

"I will go with Tomar-Re. I wish you all good luck," Saint Walker says.

John Stewart gets up and walks with them patting my shoulder as he walks by. "I'm gonna go with them, can never have too many Lanterns with first contact, you know?"

"Wait," I call out once the other two Lanterns leave. "The Red Lanterns work on rage," I tell John Stewart.

He nods before leaving.

Batman creates another holographic screen and enters some commands, a light scans over the space thumb drive. After that's done the screen beeps green, and he nods in satisfaction. "It's clean," he sighs lightly and folds his arms. "How many bounties were on your head?"

"1,436. None less than five billion credits," I answer.

Their eyes widen considerably. Batman looks down and hums, his chin resting in his hand. "We'll need to improve our early warning system, and maybe increase the Justice League's numbers."

"Are you saying what I think your saying, Bruce?" Superman asks.

Batman looks at him with a flash of annoyance. "Codenames on the Watchtower _Superman_, remember?" The Last Son of Krypton just rolls his eyes. "But yes, I think the Justice League is due for another expansion. I'll bring it up at the next meeting."

His glove then beeps, pressing the button a small holographic screen pops up, but from our position I can't see what the message is, but I do see his lips twitch upward, almost making a smile.

Superman chuckles as he rests his hands on his hips. "Let me guess, Helena?"

Helena? As in Bertinelli? Why would he almost smile if she sent him a message? As far as I can tell, they've never been a thing in any universe. Of course, maybe they were during a time period I know nothing about, but then again, this is a whole new universe, it's possible.

Wait, what about Helena Wayne? She's his daughter in some universes, mainly Earth-2. Maybe that's their relationship here.

May as well find out. "Uh, who's Helena?"

They both turn to me. "You don't know?" Superman asks.

"Well, kinda. See, the name Helena does have ties to Batman, but her relationship with him tends to be either an ally or his daughter," I explain. "And due to your reaction from her message I'd guess daughter."

Batman nods. "You'd be correct, she's my daughter," he then walks towards the door, me and Superman follow. "What about the other Helena?"

"Helena Bertinelli, from the Bertinelli Crime Family," I answer. "If I remember correctly, they were mostly wiped out in a hit ordered by Stefano Mandragora. She was the sole survivor."

Batman folds his arms as we exit the room, humming. "Yes, I know of him. He was my first mission as Batman, actually."

"Really?" Superman and I ask.

"Yes. Sadly, the entire family was killed, including Helena," he answers, his voice dropping a bit.

Whoa. Because Helena Wayne exists Helena Bertinelli died? Are there any other heroes in a similar situation as them? I should find out.

We then end up at the recreational area, here we find Omen and Robin, their masks off, watching _Community_. Hearing the door open, the two turn around, Omen then pauses the show and hops over the couch with Robin. "You guys done?"

"Yes," Superman answers. "Manhunter's still sweeping the area, so we'll just send you home so you can get some rest."

Omen stretches her arms and yawns. "Yeah, I need it. All that mental fighting and throwing crap around can really tire a girl out. Doesn't help that it's a school night."

The five of us then head towards the teleporters. "So, you get what you need about this "Evolutionary"?" Robin asks.

I show them the thumb drive. "Just gotta crack this baby, then we'll see."

"Who is the Evolutionary, by the way?" Omen inquires.

"He's a scientist, gathering people from a multitude of species and forcefully evolving them to their…well, apex. I'm one of many, but I'm different too, 'cause I'm a human," I answer.

"What so important about that?" Robin wonders. He then pokes Lilith's arm, his finger digging in slightly, she smacks his hand away. "Us humans are so squishy."

"I think that's why," I say, catching their attention, Batman's and Superman's included. "Because we're so "squishy" as you put it, our DNA's more malleable. In the entire universe no one's as genetically diverse as us. Our metahuman population is second to none, and no one knows why."

The five of us stop at the teleporters, Batman inputs the coordinates to Martian Manhunter's house, I guess. Omen steps on and waves by to us. "Daichi, we gotta talk about this more during the hangout tomorrow, alright?"

I notice Superman give Batman a shit-eating grin as she said my real name. I just ignore them and give her a nod. "Got it. See you, Lilith."

"Yeah, see you, Lil," Robin adds.

Batman just grumbles as Superman lets out a laugh.

The Dark Knight then inputs the coordinates to the Batcave. Robin gives me a fist bump before stepping on the teleporters. "See you tomorrow, Dai."

"See you tomorrow, Dick," I reply.

Superman gives a two-finger salute. "Be sure to say hi to Helena for me."

Batman nods. "I won't have to. Apex, come to the Manor tomorrow after school, we can study the data on the thumb drive there."

"Right," I nod just as he and Robin disappear.

Superman then inputs the coordinates to home, but he pauses for a moment, a nervous look overtaking his face. "What?" I ask.

His eyes dart around. "Um, uh, nothing. Nothing at all," and before I can react, he disappears.

What the hell?

"Apex."

AH CRAP!

Slowly turning around, I see the last member of the Justice League I want to see right now. In the doorway waits Wonder Woman, her ocean blue eyes—just like Donna's—studying me critically and her arms crossed.

I gulp before speaking. "Uh, y-yeah?" Dammit, Daichi, don't stutter when around her.

She stands off the doorway and nods towards the hallway. "Come with me. We need to have a talk."

I take a deep, calming breath before following her. Okay, I'm faster and stronger than her, if I need to, I can escape. And I have a healing factor, so if she manages to, I don't know, stab my hand to pin me down I can just tear my hand through the blade and escape. Ugh, she's got decades of experience on me, I bet she's already thought of multiple ways to take me down without me even knowing I've been knocked out until an hour later.

She leads me to a private meeting room, this one's rather barren when compared to the main one.

"Take a seat," although it sounds like a suggestion it's definitely an order. So, I take a seat, and she takes the one across from me. For the next few minutes, it's just silent as she studies me, I keep eye contact, knowing that if I look away, she'll probably see me as unworthy of Donna's time. "You can relax, Daichi," she finally says.

I slowly relax my muscles. I mean, there really is no reason to be so scared, in this universe she's _the _first Superhero, one of the Trinity, and a founding member of the Justice League, I should only be scared of her if I were a criminal. Then again, I did just ask her sister out, and in front of her, no less.

"What, uh, what'd you wanna talk about?" I ask. Man, has my mouth always been this dry?

Wonder Woman rests her chin on her hand. "I think you know."

"Yeah, right," I straighten my back and rest my arms on the table. "Are you going to scare me away?"

She takes a deep breath and folds her arms, leaning back in the seat. "No-"

What?

"-Donna trusts you, so I will as well," Wonder Woman answers. Her neutral face then breaks to show a small smile. "She talks about you a lot, you know. Like, a lot, a lot. I'd be dumb if I didn't notice how she felt about you," she chuckles. "Helena wants to meet you as well."

I blink. Wonder Woman chuckles in response. "My daughter, you know of her, right?"

"Wayne?" I guess. She nods. "Uh, yeah, just, it's kinda weird."

"Why's that?" She inquires.

"Well, for one, you live in Washington DC, but Batman and Helena live in Gotham? Are You two divorced or something?" I ask.

She chuckles and shakes her head. "No. I just have a home in DC for my Wonder Woman business, have to keep up appearances, you know. We actually stay at Wayne Manor. Bruce and I have been married for four years, actually," Wonder Woman answers. "Donna or Kory didn't tell you?"

"Kory did mention it when we saw the Tower for the first time, guess I wasn't really paying attention," I smirk. "Damn, how awkward is Dick around Kory?"

She lets out a light laugh. "As awkward as you'd expect. When you said it was weird you said "one", is there another reason?"

Goddammit, I had to say "one", didn't I?

I take a deep breath before continuing. "Helena is Bruce's daughter in a few universes, but her mom's never been you."

Wonder Woman hums in intrigue. "Hmm, who is her mother?"

"Catwoman."

Wonder Woman growls, and the table cracks as her hand squeezes it. I guess their relationship isn't the best here. Good to know.

"To be fair, Catwoman turns her life around sometime before her Helena's born and becomes a hero," I quickly say. It doesn't help.

"We're getting off topic," Wonder Woman says. "Donna. You and she have feelings for each other, who am I to stop it?" My face brightens, but her smirk makes me feel like that was the wrong move. "Just know that I _will_ have my eyes on you."

"Oh."

"And our Mother, Hippolyta as well."

Oh.

"And all of Themiscyra."

…oh.

"And maybe some of the Gods of Olympus."

…

Wonder Woman laughs as she gets up and claps my shoulder. "Don't worry! As long as you respect her, things will be fine. Of course, you'll hear from my Mother, and some Amazonian assassins may be sent after you, but you'll be okay."

The two of us exit the room and walk towards the teleporters. "That sounds fun," I dryly retort. I become apprehensive as my next thought comes to mind. "Hey, uh, what kind of flowers does Donna like?"

"Hyacinth flowers, blue ones in particular," Wonder Woman answers without hesitation.

She activates the holographic console for the teleporter, on it inputting my address. "Let me send you home. Oh, wait, did Bruce tell you about the space thumb drive?"

I feel a smirk. Looks like I'm not the only one who calls it that. I show it to her. "Yeah, I'm coming over to the mansion after school tomorrow so we can check it out," I toss it around in my hand. "I don't think my WayneTech laptop could handle it."

"You got that right. Good night, Daichi," Wonder Woman says as I begin to teleport home.

"Good night," I reply.

* * *

**Metropolis**

"Daichi, hey!" Lois says.

I give her a two-finger salute, but I'm interrupted halfway as she comes over and hugs me, my arm trapped in an uncomfortable position. "Hey, Lois, how's Jon?"

She backs up and heads towards the fridge, pulling out two bottles of water and tosses one towards me. "Little guy's sleeping, he tends to get really tired around night," Lois answers. "So, Clark told me you asked Donna out. And in front of Wonder Woman, no less. Talk about having a pair."

I gulp down more than half the bottle in one go. "Almost felt like I was gonna lose 'em."

Lois yawns as she heads towards the master bedroom. "You'll be fine, as long as you treat Donna right, she won't hurt you. Well, good night, kiddo," she enters the bedroom. Immediately her head peeks out, a mischievous grin on her face. "Oh, Clark's in his office, by the way. Y'know, if you wanna _talk_ about guy things."

My eyes narrow as I head to the door. Instead of opening it I vibrate through the door, in the office I find Clark working on his laptop, deep in thought. I cough loudly, catching him by surprise, and once he notices it's me his eyes widen and then dart around, looking for a way out. "Daichi! H-hey! How, um, how are ya?"

"Oh, I'm great, Clark, perfectly great," I slowly walk towards him. "What're you working on?"

"Perry wants me to write a paper on you and the Teen Titans," he manages to get out. "You know, since your Metropolis' new hero, yeah?"

"Yeah, I am," I fold my arms. "And you left me to hang. Wanna explain why?"

"Well, you didn't die, did you?" He points out. Clark then lets out another chuckle before ending the little façade. "Daichi, you did it! You asked Donna out! And she said yes! That's something to be happy about, don't you think?"

My frown and folded arms make way for my happier emotions, I feel my cheeks strain a little as my smile grows to its peak. "Yeah, I guess it is," my smile shrinks as I point to his laptop. "When's the article due? I mean, I thought I already did an interview with Lois."

"Yeah, but he wants another one about the Teen Titans, and since you're the only on in Metropolis he wants us to write more about you," Clark answers.

"Let me guess, another interview?" I rhetorically ask.

Clark nods. "Another interview."

I sit down in the chair and sit up straight. "Let's do this."

Clark looks at the clock on the wall, I follow his line of sight to see that it's 12:34 in the morning. "You have school tomorrow," he points out.

I hold out my hand, an energy ball forming in it, brighter than normal. The center of it is pure white while the edges are orange, some black dots in the center as well. "That's the thing, ever since absorbing that power up device of Doctor Light's I've felt stronger than ever, like I have a whole bunch of energy bottled up."

Clark studies the energy ball with me. "Makes sense. That and we can go who knows how long without sleep, food, or drink," he cracks his neck and wiggles his fingers. "All right, let's do this."

For the next hour Clark interviews me as Apex. It was fun, to be completely honest.

* * *

Five more minutes, that's how much longer I have until class ends, which is also the end of the day.

Looking to my side, I see Donna and her friends at the other side of the gym, she's wearing shorts and a t-shirt that looks good on her. Damn, I think I'm already in love. So, yeah, it's not too bad.

After a whistle from the P.E. teacher, we all head to the locker rooms and change, as soon as I get out, the final bell rings and schools over.

The explosion of noise causes discomfort for me, but Donna walks up to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. It seems like her presence alone can calm me down.

"BOO!"

I yelp loudly and accidentally discharge some energy, thankfully it was blink-and-you'll miss it fast, but Kimiyo still feels it from her hand on my back. "Ow!" She yelps, putting her thumb in her mouth. "You collect some static, Daichi?" She jokes. "Besides, don't you have sensitive ears, shouldn't you have heard me?"

I motion to the loud kids in the class. "Kinda hard to hear one person when countless others are shouting."

I take a deep sigh, but that's when I notice something. I'm tired. Well, not exhausted, I'm just back to normal, before absorbing Doctor Light's device. Weird.

Kimiyo just laughs. "Whatever, man. So, I heard from the grapevine that the two of you are a little more than friends," she elbows me in the side. "Eh, eh?"

Donna laughs as she hugs me around my side, her head resting on my shoulder. "We haven't gone on a date yet, but yeah, he asked me out last night."

Sasha just bumps her shoulder into Donna's as she joins us. "Good for you guys!" She then looks at me. "Just be careful about Jackson."

I shrug nonchalantly. "I've got nothing to worry about from him."

In the distance, we can see Kory waiting with the others, her, Lilith, and Garth in a deep conversation as Roy sits a little away from them, brooding. Wonder what's up with him.

Kory notices us and waves us over. "Hello friends! I do hope you will all enjoy the weekend."

Sasha and Naomi walk and talk with her as they head towards their lockers. Roy takes a deep breath before getting up. "I'll be outside, see you guys in a bit," he mutters.

Lilith and Garth share a look before turning back to us. Lilith immediately grabs Kimiyo and Donna and drags the two away, towards Donna's locker, leaving me and Garth alone.

"Heard Diana wanted to talk to you after you asked Donna out," he says.

I sigh and stick my head in my locker as I reach for my books. "Does everyone know about that?"

Garth shrugs as he leans on the locker next to me. "Even with our lifestyles, sometimes we just have to gossip. And romance tends to be one of the hot topics."

"Seriously, are we a hair salon or the world's saviors?" I ask to the air aloud.

"That's a good question," Garth replies. "You got a date planned?"

"First date, y'know, so it's gotta be something simple. I was thinking a movie, we'll eat somewhere and then maybe walk during the sunset," I say.

Garth raises an eyebrow in intrigue. "Well, would you look at that, you even have the time roughly planned out," I close my locker and walk towards Donna's locker, Garth following. "How'd you plan that?"

"The movie we're gonna watch ends around later afternoon, and if we eat for as long as I plan, then it'll be sunset around the time we'll be finished. Then we'll be nearby a park where the sunset will be easy to enjoy," I say.

"Damn, you've _really _got this all planned out," Garth says.

The girls walk around us, Lilith on Garth's side, Kimiyo in the middle, and Donna on my side, their arms looped around ours as they drag us away. Garth and I look at each other in surprise before shrugging. No reason to fight this.

We all end up outside and talk, during that time Donna's friends are all picked up one-by-one. Of us, Roy is the first to go. "I'll get my stuff setup at the Tower. See you guys in a bit."

"I should get going too. I'll see you guys there," Garth says, kissing Lilith quickly and waving goodbye to the rest of us as he walks away.

"See you three later," Lilith says, hugging all of us.

I rotate my right arm as Kory, Donna, and I walk a distance from the school, all so no one can see us teleport. Kory turns to me as we walk. "You aren't going home, Daichi?"

I pull out the space thumb drive again, showing it to them. "Bruce wants me at the cave to check this thing out. Guess we're all going together."

"You know we live there?" Donna asks in surprise.

"Your sister told me yesterday."

"Oh," she sheepishly rubs a finger on her cheek. "Sorry about not telling you."

"Eh, it's cool," I wave off. The three of us discreetly enter an alleyway, once there I call Bruce, 'cause I have his phone number. You know, _The_ Batman's personal phone number in _my_ phone.

Crap, I let it get to my head, didn't I?

After two rings he picks up. _"You ready?"_

"Yeah, Donna and Kory are with me, also."

"_Hm. Standby."_

Our molecules are broken apart and everything momentarily becomes pure white, but just as fast, everything becomes dark. Looking around I see that we're in the Batcave, the giant penny, animatronic T-Rex, and sounds of bats kinda gave it away.

"Over here, Daichi," Bruce calls out.

"Well, I shall be upstairs so I can do my homework. See you later, Daichi," Kory says, heading towards the elevator.

Donna shifts her backpack. "I should do my homework too," She gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't leave without telling me, all right?"

"All right," I reply.

Donna heads towards the elevator and stands with Kory. She waves one more time just before the doors close. After a moment, I walk towards the Batcomputer but stop once I see who's in the chair. It isn't Bruce.

Sitting in the chair is a little girl, probably five-years-old. She has black hair in pigtails and ice blue eyes that are currently glaring up at her father. She wears a purple shirt and blue overalls with white sneakers. "No!" She indignantly shouts.

Bruce sighs as he pinches his nose. "Helena, Daddy needs to use the computer right now."

The little girl shakes her head and crosses her arms, the Batman plushie in her arms being squeezed. "No! Daddy's supposed to garden with me, you promised, remember?"

"Yes, I did, but that was before Daichi had an important thumb drive I had to check out," he tries to explain. "When I'm done, we can garden, okay?"

Her expressive blue eyes begin to water, causing the two of us to take a step back each. "Okay! We can garden now," Bruce quickly says.

As if flipping a light switch, Helena's tearful expression becomes the complete opposite. She hops off the chair and hugs Bruce around his legs. "Thank you!"

Bruce smiles as he backs up a bit, kneels down, and pats her head. "Of course, Helena," he then nods towards me. "But first, you should introduce yourself to our guest."

The little girl backs up and nods strongly before turning to me. She then walks up to me and holds her hand out for a handshake. I slowly reach down and shake her hand. "Hello! My name is Helena Martha Wayne, nice to meet you, what's your name?"

I arch an eyebrow. "Pretty military response, eh kid?" I joke. She just looks at me unimpressed. "Akiyama Daichi, at your service," I then shake her hand, and would you look at that, she's a lot stronger than she looks.

Helena studies me, her eyes narrowing like Bruce's does when something interests him. "_You're _Daichi?" She walks around me, studying me with eyes that seem a lot like Diana's. She really is their kid. "Can you really fly?"

I float in the air. She gasps and then jumps around. "How strong are you? I'm pretty strong too, you know?"

I land and give her a thumbs up. "Yeah, I wouldn't doubt it, your mom_ is _Wonder Woman after all."

Helena has a wide smile on her face as she nods. "Uh-huh! And Wonder Girl's my Auntie! They're the coolest ladies ever! When I grow up, I'll be just as strong as them!"

"I don't doubt it. And hey, if you want someone to give you any tips, I'm here, all right?" I offer, giving her a thumbs up.

Helena gives me a thumbs up as well. "Okay!"

The elevator dings. The three of us look over to see the doors open, revealing Diana, Clark, and Dick.

As soon as she sees him, Helena perks up. "UNCLE CLARK!" She shouts. Like a little purple bolt, she appears right in front of Clark and tightly hugs his legs. "How are you? How's Auntie Lois? How's Jon?"

Clark laughs as he reaches down and picks her up, walking towards us with the others. "They're fine. How're you?"

"I'm good. Did you know me and Daddy are gonna garden today? He was gonna try to get out of it, but I was able to convince him," she says.

Bruce coughs while Diana fixes him with a glare. "Really now? And whatever could convince your father to not spend time with you?"

"Some space thumb drive, Daichi has," Helena answers.

"Oh. While it is important, he did promise, didn't he?" Diana rhetorically asks. "Besides, the Teen Titans are planning a hangout during the weekend, Daichi can leave the space drive behind and you can check it later."

Bruce and I look at each other, I then shrug and give it to him. The elevator dings again, the doors open to reveal Donna, Kory, and Alfred holding a ton of bags. Oh, right. I was supposed to bring drinks.

Clark notices my worry and just waves it off. "I brought some, Donna has them."

"Right, thanks Clark. See you guys later," I call out as the four of us head towards the teleporters, Dick and I take some bags from Alfred, Kory, and Donna.

"Wait!" Helena calls out. She runs up to me and looks up. "Tell Wally "mud knee", okay?"

Dick, Diana, and Donna let out laughs as Bruce sighs, a smile on his lips. "I'm lost, but I'll do it."

Helena beams up at me and hugs my legs. "Thank you!"

"Can I get a hug, Helena?" Donna playfully asks.

"Of course!" The little girl hugs her, then Dick and Kory.

The four of us step on the teleporter pad and wave by to the others. Alright, okay, first weekend with these guys, and with a girlfriend, let's hope it doesn't go off the rails.

Who am I kidding? It's gonna go off the rails hard.

**Lightshow Arc, complete; Battle of the Teams Arc, commence.**

* * *

**A/N 9/03/2020:**

**Oooh wee! There's the end of the rewrites! I'm not sure if you've gotten a notification of any kind, if not, there'll be a note in the beginning of the next chapter. **

**Man, coming back and fixing these chapters is a pretty weird experience, what with me looking at all the mistakes I let slide that I'm now fixing. So, with this rewrite done, **_**A Sinister Past**_** is about to get a really massive one. At the time of writing this, the first three chapters have been rewritten. Once the other two are done, I'll post them, so check it out!**

**Oh, but I wanna mention that this coming Saturday (9/05/2020) I have a job interview, and if it all works out, these stories are most likely going to be updated slowly. Sorry, but I've gotta live, y'know?**

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you two Saturdays from now, you beautiful people! **


	7. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**Aaand we're back! It's been a break, hasn't it? So, first off, I'd like to say holy fucking shit **_**Justice League Dark: Apokolips War **_**was intense as all hell and definitely one of the best DCAMU films, if you haven't watched it by now, I recommend it. And I got some ideas from it regarding the Darkseid War Arc that'll happen way later. Don't worry, it won't be like the movie. Mostly. **

**Anyways, here we are with the Battle of the Teams Arc! The main antagonists of this arc will be very familiar if you've watched the **_**Teen Titans **_**cartoon way back when. I will say this, Mammoth and Shimmer are in this arc. **

**This chapter will focus on the party, the next will be the date between Daichi and Donna followed by a timeskip of a few months, bringing the story to late 2010.**

**I'd also like to add that the previous six chapters have been edited. While writing I noticed that some of the little details I've mixed up (i.e. the location of Titans Tower). So, I've gone back and edited the chapters, go check it out if you haven't yet.**

**And now to reply to some reviews!**

**Beast Mode92:** Thanks for that. This story's when I really started to look at grammar and story telling when compared to _A Sinister Past_. And I fully plan on seeing it to the end.

**RougeKing:** Thanks for the review! Hope you continue to enjoy the story!

**AlexFalTon:** As long as the right people come along to see the story of Daichi Akiyama and the Teen Titans, that's all the support I need. But it wouldn't hurt to get more views, ya know? I'm excited for you to come along, and Excel- oh, shit. Up, up, and away, friend!

**Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**One Step Forward, Two Steps Back**

"I'm just saying: I could totally hold my breath longer than Dick," Wally boasts.

The acrobat scoffs. "Yeah, right. If you can hold your breath longer than me then I can bench press an elephant."

Kory tilts her head. "Sarcasm?"

Garth nods as he takes a bite of pepperoni pizza. "Yeah, Kory, sarcasm," he then looks at me and Roy, utterly ravaging the boxes of supreme pizza. "How the hell can you two like that?"

Roy and I look up from the pizza carnage we're causing, sauce around our mouths. We share a glance before shrugging and looking back at Garth. "We just can," Roy says.

Donna shakes her head and reaches over, wiping the sauce off my face with a napkin. "Before another stupid argument about pizza flavors breaks out, I want to see if Wally's claims ring true."

"Donna's got the right idea," Wally says. He gets up off the kitchen island and looks around, Dick does the same. "Where are they?" Wally whispers.

"Where's what?" Lilith asks.

"Buckets," Wally answers.

Garth just shakes his head in amusement before walking around the island and grabbing the two by the back of their shirts. Carrying the two of them, he walks over to the giant couch and drops them down in front of it, the rest of us follow, sitting on the couch.

Garth then creates two spheres of water above each hand. "Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to wrap these around your heads, when you need to breath pat your leg three times in rapid succession. Got it?"

The two friends glare at each other, trying to get the other to back down. "Oh, I've got it all right," Dick says, still glaring at Wally. "I'd stand down if I were you, bro. I'm trained by Batman _and _Wonder Woman, of course I can hold my breath for a while. Hell, I bet my training's still gonna be more intense than what Garth puts us through."

Wally rolls his eyes, breaking eye contact first. "Puhlease, dude, I'm a speedster, our lungs are automatically better than yours. Ain't that right, Daichi?"

I jump slightly and choke on a pepper, surprised at Wally suddenly calling me out. Kory notices and slams her hand on my back, helping the pepper down. "Thanks, Kory," I say. I then turn back to Wally and Dick. "Hate to say it, but Wally's got a point, the lung capacity of a speedster's automatically far better than those of regular humans, no matter how much training they've gone through."

Wally smirks and thumps his chest. "You see that? Our resident Superman agrees with me. I've got this in the bag."

"But I'm not the best person to ask," I say, catching their attention. "I'm artificially evolved, remember? My lungs aren't the best thing to base your theory on, Wally."

Wally grumbles as Dick lets out a laugh. "Really, Wally, you couldn't have asked a worse person for their opinion," Dick quickly notices Donna's glare. "Uh, no offense, of course."

I just grin and wave it off. "None taken."

"Get on with it already," Lilith calls out in annoyance, her phone ready to record.

Wally and Dick take deep breaths and then Garth surrounds their heads in the water bubbles, starting the competition.

The rest of us lean forward as the two would occasionally glare at each other, a holographic stopwatch appearing above their heads. Donna takes some pictures of the competition. For the next three minutes nothing happens, boring us greatly.

Sighing deeply, I get up and walk towards the drinks. "You guys want anything to drink?"

"Gatorade, please," Donna says.

"I'm good with some water," Garth replies. You'd think spending most of his life surrounded by water he'd want something else for a change.

"I am good," Kory says.

"Same," Roy simply replies.

Lilith flips over the chair, walking next to me. "I'll get my own drink," she says. As we fill the cups Lilith turns to me, a critical look in her eyes. "Have you and Donna done anything yet?"

"Lil, I _just_ asked her out last night, never got the time to do anything about it. But I do have a date planned out, just gotta find the perfect time, you know?" I answer.

Lilith nods as the two of us walk back, the drinks floating thanks to our telekinesis. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. When me and Garth started dating, we'd barely have time to spend with each other," she looks at him fondly. "I'm so glad he's a patient guy, don't think we'd be together if he wasn't."

I smile. "That's good to hear. How did the two of you become a thing, anyways?"

The two of us float over the couch and sit down, surprised to see Wally and Dick still going at it. We hand the drinks around; Donna kisses my cheek once I give her the Gatorade. "Thank you."

I blush and stutter for a moment before replying. "Y-you're welcome."

"Daichi," Lilith says, catching my attention. "It was a mission with the League, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman were investigating Black Manta when they brought us along."

Garth sits down next to her, his arm around her shoulders. "Oh, you're telling him how we started dating?"

"Yup," Lilith answers, popping the p.

"I must admit, I too am curious as to how your relationship began," Kory says.

"Well, like she said, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter were investigating Black Manta, somehow he had gotten ahold of some Martian artifact that would let him see the future," Garth says.

Whoa, that sounds…cool.

"I did not know Martians had precogs amongst their ranks," Kory says.

"Oh, just wait until the end," Garth replies, a smirk on his face. He then turns to the two, still going strong. "How the hell? If I didn't know any better, I'd say they have Atlantean ancestry."

"Anyways," Lilith says. "Aquaman and Manhunter wanted us to stay back as they investigated Manta's base at the time. Of course, we didn't listen and went in through a secret back entrance."

"Manta was waiting," Garth continues. "The two of us were barely able to escape. After running into him we ran around his base, destroying whatever was in our way too, all to slow him down. It annoyed him. Like, a lot."

Lilith laughs as she takes a sip of her drink. "He had a big base too, so it took a while for Aquaman and Martian Manhunter to find us. Eventually they did and we took Black Manta out, but during that time the two of us were scared out of our minds."

"Yeah, I guess that's what drove us together, being scared. I mean, in this line of work you gotta take every chance you can, you know?" Garth says, finishing the story.

Donna looks at me fondly and caresses my cheek. "Yeah, I understand."

I have a similar smile and lightly grab her wrist, the two of us being in our own little world of newfound romance.

"Wait, what about the artifact?" Kory asks, bringing me and Donna out of our trance.

"Oh, it was a dud," Lilith answers. "Well, not a dud, more a prop. There was a Martian film about one of them seeing a future apocalypse and he's trying to prevent it, the "artifact" was what let him control that ability."

I break out in laughter at that. "Manta was duped by a movie MacGuffin!?"

Garth lets out a chuckle as well. "I know, right! Someone who's so deadly and smart, foiled by a movie prop. Who knows, maybe we can beat Darkseid with plot armor."

"What is plot armor?" Kory asks.

"It's when a character isn't killed off in the story because they have a significant impact on the plot. Most main characters have plot armor, but someone tends to die," Donna answers.

"Really?" Kory asks as she looks at Donna with an arched brow.

Donna nods. "Yeah. Let's say there's a group of adventurers off to fight a dragon, right? Well, most of the party will survive because they have plot armor, especially the protagonist. But once the story hits its climax someone in the party usually dies. Mainly due to a sacrifice."

Kory's eyes brighten as she smiles. "Ah, yes! I have seen many plays back on Tamaran with a plot similar to what you have told me," she then hums as she stares at the table. "A few actually played _exactly _like that."

Lilith grins as she takes a sip of her drink. "Goes to show all the original ideas have now been used up. Everything's plagiarized one way or another."

Roy grunts and gets up, his box of pizza finished. "I'll go grab a board game or something. Any suggestions?"

Donna turns around and smiles at him. "Ooh! Monopoly please!"

Lilith sighs and shakes her head in amusement. "Damn, Donna, you're really gonna do that to Kory and Daichi?"

"What? Is this "Monopoly" some sort of ritual in which one must sacrifice their friends? If so, I vote Daichi," Kory asks.

I playfully glare at her; she just smiles back at me. I then play dumb 'cause technically, I've never played Monopoly. "Yeah, I've heard of it too, not a lot of good things regarding the game," I say.

Garth does a so-so motion with his hand. "Kory's kinda right. You'll see," he turns to Dick and Wally, surprised to see them still going, even at ten minutes. "Oh, Neptune's beard! What the hell you guys! Someone give up!"

Interest reinvigorated, the rest of us watch as the two begin to show signs of giving up soon. Roy comes back and places the Monopoly board down on the table. "Can they hear us?"

"It'll be extremely distorted," Garth answers.

"Dick's gonna lose," Roy says. "He looks like he needs to take a breath way more than Wally does. Looks like our resident motor mouth was right though, being a speedster definitely gives him an enhanced lung capacity."

True enough, Dick rapidly smacks his leg. Garth dissipates the water bubbles, the two slump over and take deep breaths. Wally shakes his head rapidly, getting water all over most of us, not Donna, I get in front of her and block the water.

The Amazonian Princess just chuckles and kisses my cheek. "My hero," she jokes.

"Gotta defend you however I can, right?" I playfully reply.

Donna shrugs her shoulders. "I don't need defending, but sure, whatever helps you sleep at night."

Kory comes back, 'cause I guess she left before I noticed, and hands Dick a towel. She notices Dick's dejected face and places a hand on his shoulder, a dazzling smile on her face. "Don't be sad you lost, be happy you made Wally…run for his money? I used that correctly, yes?"

Dick laughs as he dries himself off, expertly using the towel to hide his blush from everyone but me and probably Roy, what with his freakishly good eyesight. "Yeah, you used it right, Kory," Dick replies. He looks at the table to see the board game. "Let me guess, Donna wanted to play?"

My girlfriend nods. "Yes. I hope to teach Daichi and Kory the ways of Monopoly."

"Shit, Donna, they've only been here for like, a month, no need to absolutely destroy them," Wally laughs as he uses his superspeed to set up the board game. "Car!"

I telekinetically bring the dinosaur piece to me. "Of course, you'd choose that one," Garth says as Lilith lifts the boat piece to him. "I mean, current creatures are evolutions of dinosaurs, right? And you're The Vitruvian Man."

"I'm the what?" I ask.

"The Vitruvian Man," Donna echoes, holding the hat piece between her middle and index fingers. "It's your nickname, like The Man of Steel or The Dark Knight."

"Whoa, I-I didn't know that," I look down at the dinosaur, studying it. I really have a nickname. But I haven't even been here for that long, have I really caused that big of a ripple in the superhero community? I need to look more into this later. "What about you guys? Any nicknames?"

"Most of us don't," Lilith says. "I'm okay with it, honestly."

"Same," Roy agrees.

"Among the underwater community I am known as Garth of Atlantis."

"Fastest Kid Alive."

"The Boy Wonder."

"I do not have one," Kory says.

"The Darkstar," Donna says.

I look at Donna with an arched eyebrow. Doesn't she get that nickname when she wears the black suit?

She notices my confusion. "When I was born the sky was completely dark, since then I've been known as the Darkstar," she then hums as we place our pieces at the starting square. "Maybe I should change my costume to match?"

"We'll talk about it later. Let's play!" Wally shouts excitedly. As he walks towards us, he bashes his knee into the table. "Ah! My knee!"

"Mud knee!"

The others look at me, Lilith and Roy are confused while Dick, Donna, and Garth break out in laughter. Wally stops hopping around and faces me, his face pale, and his eyes wide. "W-w-what? D-Daichi, where did you hear that?"

"Uh, Helena. She wanted me to tell you that when I saw you. What's up with that?" I ask.

"Yeah, Wally, what's up with that?" Garth goads.

Wally folds his arms and lowers his head, muttering to himself for a few moments, eventually he raises his head. "A year ago, Dick, Donna, Garth, and I were playing with Helena 'cause Wonder Woman and Batman were busy with a mission and Alfred was in London. Garth made the ground muddy with his powers. I slid on the ground and got mud all over my knee as we were playing baseball, I was on second base, Batman was too, I just didn't notice when they came back."

"Wait, you guys were playing baseball with Helena while the ground was slippery, and you didn't tell me _or _Roy?" Lilith interrupts. She glares at Garth. "Why?"

Garth rubs the back of his neck. "Roy and Green Arrow were busy that day, and you were training with Martian Manhunter. Sorry."

Lilith's glare is quickly replaced with a smile. "All right, I just wanted to know. Continue."

Wally sighs deeply. "Right, so at that moment Wonder Woman and Batman came back, but I guess we were so engrossed we didn't notice them-"

"I did!" Dick shouts.

"-No one cares, Dick," Wally says. The acrobat just has an impish grin. "Anyway, I backed up just a little bit and ran into Batman, but I didn't expect it, so I let my reflexes take over."

"Oh, Wally, no," Roy whispers.

Wally slumps over. "I shrieked and then kneed him in the dick with my muddy knee."

Roy, Lilith, and I break out in laughter as the image plays through our heads.

Holy crap, I didn't expect mud knee to be that. Oh man, talk about blackmail for the future. Helena you beautiful little child you, you deserve a present for that.

"I take it you immediately regretted your decision," Kory says after getting over her much more subdued laughter.

Dick nods his head vigorously. "Oooooh yeah. He described it as "kneeing a brick wall" what with Batman's armor being so sturdy. Hell, all Bat's did was grunt a little as mud splattered all over his codpiece. Wally was on the ground writhing in pain."

Wally just groans loudly as he picks up the die and shakes them. "Let's just play."

"_What are you playing?"_

Turning around we see Red Tornado standing behind the couch, overlooking us, and staring at the Monopoly board.

Right, he's here. No matter what we said or how much we bothered our mentors, the League made sure Red Tornado was present at Titans Tower. At least he promised to try and stay out of our business as much as possible, but it still annoyed us that the League wouldn't trust us for even a weekend.

Lilith is the first to respond. "Monopoly. You know, the board game?"

Red Tornado's gaze goes to her. _"Yes, I am aware of the game. The Justice Society would play it whenever the chance arose decades ago. Wildcat was rather horrible at the game."_

"Oh. Would you like to join?" Kory asks innocently.

As subtle as we can, the rest of us give her pointed looks. She just ignores them.

Red Tornado shakes his head_. "No. I am just here to inform Daichi that Batman plans to look into the thumb drive first thing in the morning, he will then ask for your assistance when necessary. That is all,"_ and with that, he turns around and walks towards the elevator.

"What was he talking about? A thumb drive?" Garth asks as he moves the boat.

"The guy who made me, the Evolutionary, was captured just before I got here. Some Lanterns found some parts of The Ship and found a thumb drive," I explain. "Batman's checking over it to make sure it's safe before we look into it."

"Couldn't he just check it from where he's at? Fuck," Garth curses as he draws a go to jail card.

I take the die from him and roll. A six and a five, nice. "Not without me he can't. The security on The Evolutionary's things are damn near impossible to break into. Besides, if they detect an unauthorized access the data deletes itself. I should've told him that, huh?"

Donna smirks as she places down a house on boardwalk. How she already got a house on boardwalk, I have no idea. "Probably, yeah. All right, time to get into the game."

Dick looks at me and Kory. "You guys really aren't gonna enjoy this."

* * *

Dick was right, we didn't enjoy it.

We played our own special variation of the game. If someone were to land on your property they could try and convince you to lessen the amount you have to pay them, but you can also increase the amount someone has to pay if you have valid reasoning behind it. A little weird to get used to at first, but eventually I got it.

Didn't matter though.  
Donna was an absolute monster. She'd find ways to talk us into deals that, at first, sound great, but in the long run it'd just screw us over and help her in the end. About fifteen minutes into the game she somehow had the most expensive side of the board under her control, with hotels on each of her properties and two of the railroads as her own.

Now, since we're dating, I expected certain immunities from her tyranny. Nope. She'd constantly deny it, but I'm pretty sure Donna was extra hard on me. And, well, thanks to that, I was the first to be eliminated.

Over the next twenty minutes Donna systematically takes down the rest of the team, in the end she and Dick are the last ones left.

The rest of us surround Dick as he rolls the dice, excited to see what number he gets. Looking at the board and the money he has my hopes aren't high for him. I mean, somehow Donna has almost the entire board under her control, the only way for Dick to survive is if he were to land on one of the neutral squares, but that's highly unlikely.

Dick rolls the die, and he gets snake eyes. Yup, he's lost. He moves his piece over two to land on one of Donna's more expensive hotels, the price being more than he can pay.

The Amazonian leans back and laughs in victory as Dick's head slams into the table. "Yet another game of Monopoly won by yours truly, Donna Troy!"

Roy shakes his head with a smile. "That was fun."

I roll my eyes as I sit next to Donna. "Yeah, 'cause you got to play," I give her a pointed look, she just responds with a look of false innocence. "_Someone_ wouldn't let me."

Donna just smiles as her head swings side to side, sometimes hitting my shoulder. "Just because we're dating doesn't mean I should go easy on you, Daichi. In fact, I should be more critical of you, have to test you somehow, don't I?"

I playfully roll my eyes as we all sit down on the couch. To my left Wally sits down and hands me a controller. "You ever play _Mortal Kombat?"_

"I've beat the story mode for it, _Shaolin Monks, Armageddon, _and _Deadly Alliance_ back home," I reply.

Wally smiles as he speeds around and turns on the PS3 connected to the holographic screen. He then clicks his account and starts up the game. "Good, so you know the controls then."

Without further ado, we begin to play the game.

As I scroll through the characters, I pause on Kratos, wondering if I should play him.

While my controller stays on him Donna groans in annoyance. "Diana and I _really_ don't like his games," she explains. "The Greek Gods aren't as bad as the games try to say! I mean, Hermes is an extremely chill guy. Actually, now that I think about it, he shares a lot of similarities with Wally. Oh no…"

The speedster has a smirk on his face. "Well, I have a lot in common with the coolest of the Greek Gods. Man, that is awesome."

Garth groans as he shakes his head. "That's gonna get to his head."

I eventually settle on Kung Lao as Wally picks Rain. "All right, let's do this," he says.

"Yeah, let's do this," I reply.

The first round's surprisingly close, thanks to my skill and Wally's speed, the two of us at dangerously low health, but Wally manages to win thanks to his ability to input buttons faster. I feel my competitive side kick in as I lean forward.

The second round is also close, but I win with a wider margin of health compared to Wally's. He leans forward as well when the game announces my win.

This is it. Final round.

I have to be careful. While I can flawlessly pull of combos and juggle him around Wally's superior speed gives him an advantage, so I can't let him get even a hit in on me, or else it'll go downhill for me from there. On the upside, he's a button masher, only knowing the basic moves for the characters, other than his speed I have the advantage.

The two of us go back and forth, one of us pushing the attack, but one little slip up and the tides of battle turn. Speaking of slip ups, Wally makes a monumental one, going in for a punch when he should've gone for a kick. Using that moment, I press the attack, eventually winning the match, but it isn't until the fatality that I hop off the couch.

"HA HA! YES!" I shout jovially.

Wally lets out a breath as he puts his controller on the table. "Man, I haven't met anyone able to keep up with me. It's a nice change of pace," he says with a smile. "But you're pretty competitive, you know that?"

I sheepishly smile as I scratch my cheek. "Oh, sorry about that. Well, you see, since I'm biologically perfect I kind of go for any form of competition, to test myself, you know? That and beating a good challenge is kind of ingrained into my DNA."

"He was like that with Mammoth," Donna explains. "When Mammoth actually hurt him, he…came alive, I guess you'd say."

I arch an eyebrow as I look at her. "What do you mean "come alive"? Do I really seem like I'm dead? Guys?"

Roy and Garth both reach for the controllers, avoiding eye contact with me. Dick and Wally whisper nonsense to each other. Lilith finds the ground to be interesting. Donna and Kory both look at me, the former with a smirk and the latter confused.

"Um…yes?" Kory says.

I look at her and let out a breath. "Well, thank you for being honest with me, Kory. Unlike the others," Donna coughs. "You too, Donna."

Donna smiles as she gets up and puts the Monopoly board away. "I'm gonna go put this back. Wanna come with, Dai? We can see what other games we can play."

I get up and stand next to her. "Sure, why not?"

Out of the corner of my eye I notice Wally mouthing "Twister."

I shake my head as me and Donna walk away from the group. The two of us stop in front of a thin door and open it, inside we see a ton of board games like Battleship, Risk…Twister, and others.

Donna stands on her tiptoes as she puts Monopoly away. She then turns her head to me and looks up into my eyes. "What game do you recommend?" She asks.

Y'know, we're actually really close to each other right now. Like, the little closet's in front of us, the door is to her right, and Donna's in front of me, her body just a few inches away from mine. I bet if I reached out even a little bit, I'd touch her back.

My brain shuts down as I process that information.

Donna's actually _really _close to me, like, I can smell her hair without having to use my super smelling close. Oh man. Oh man. I feel my face heat up violently as I try to reply, but nothing comes out. Goddammit, why does my throat have to be so damn dry right now? Damn, you, body.

Donna notices our situation quickly and I can see her smirk. She backs up and leans into me, our bodies basically molding together. She smiles as she grabs my right arm and brings it around her waist, her hand resting atop mine. She rests her head on my shoulder and looks up at me, a gentle smile on her face.

"You know you don't have to be so flustered by this, right, Daichi?" She softly says.

"I-"

"Give me your other hand," Donna gently orders. Complying, I bring my other hand over, she grabs it and intertwines her fingers with mine, she then brings it up and kisses the back of my hand. Following her lead, I kiss hers. "See? Wasn't so hard now, was it?"

I feel a smile break out. I rest my head in the crook of her shoulder. "No, it wasn't," I let out a content sigh as the two of us close our eyes and sway together to a silent tune.

Eventually, I open my eyes and look into her ocean blue eyes again. "So, I was thinking, we can watch one of those new movies coming out next week at a theatre in Metropolis, after that we get something to eat at one of the nearby restaurants, and we can watch the sunset as we walk at Centennial Park. What do you think?"

Donna looks up at me and kisses me on the cheek. "I think it's perfect," she then sighs as she unwraps herself from our position. "Come on, let's pick a game before they send someone to check on us."

The two of us look through the multitude of games. Donna's gaze then lands on Twister. "Hm, what about this one?"

"Uh, no," I reply. "Wally wants to play that one. Just so he can team up with Kory and "accidentally" tumble down with her."

Donna's eyes narrow as she sticks it in the back of the closet. "That's not happening," she whispers. Placing a finger to her lips, she hums as she looks again, eventually sighing in defeat as she drops her hands to her sides. "I got nothing."

I look around and reach up above her head, and after some careful maneuvering and some use of telekinesis I pull out Risk. "How about this one?"

Donna smiles as she takes it out of my hands. "Ah, I love Risk! Diana, Dick, Bruce, and I would play it many times before Helena was born."

"And now?" I ask.

Donna smiles. "Helena's patience can only go so far."

As I close the door to the closet, I turn to Donna. "How long have they known each other, anyway?"

"Well, the Justice League was founded five years ago, thanks to an invasion from Mongul. But the original seven had all known each other before then, some more than others. Around 2003 they started dating, and the year after that, I left Themiscyra to live with Diana. Since then I've lived in Wayne Manor," Donna explains. "If anything, Bruce is like an older brother to me."

"Yo, lovebirds!" Wally shouts. "What's keeping you?"

Donna playfully rolls her eyes as she begins walking towards the others. "Come, we shouldn't keep them waiting any longer."

I smile as I walk next to her, my hands in my pockets. "No, we shouldn't."

The two of us arrive at the couch, Donna drops the boardgame on the table as Garth and Wally play against each other in _Mortal Kombat._ The latter groans just as Garth hits him with a fatality.

"About time. What took you guys so long?" Garth asks.

Dick chuckles as he flips over the couch and grabs some cups and brings a bottle of soda over. "Isn't it obvious? They were being romantic!" He lets out his little gremlin laugh as Lilith and Wally join in.

Roy just refills his drink with a slight scowl. "What game did you guys get?"

Donna places it down on the table. "Risk."

Wally groans as he flops down on the couch, resting on Garth's and Kory's legs. "Come on, man! Risk is so boring," he whines. "What about-"

"No," Donna shoots down immediately, glaring at the speedster.

Wally puts his hands up in surrender.

With some magic, Garth pushes Wally off the couch and leans forward. "I'll be yellow."

Kory studies the board before deciding. "Okay, then I shall be green."

Dick uses my head to keep him stable as he flips over me and sits down next to me and Kory. "Red for me."

As he reaches out for the red pieces Donna's hand moves faster. "No way, I'm _always _red. Have you already forgotten?"

Dick grumbles. "Fine. Blue."

"I'm good," Lilith says. "I'll just take this time to beat Wally's ass. What about you, Roy?"

The two redheads are now playing _Mortal Kombat_. Lilith picking Kitana and Wally playing as Raiden.

He's silent for a moment before getting up. "I'm good. I'll be in the gym if anyone needs me."

And with that, he's entered the elevator.

I shrug before reaching for the gray pieces, but before my hand reaches them Dick grabs my wrist. I turn to see him giving me his best attempt at a batglare. "No telepathy, all right?"

I roll my eyes in annoyance as I phase my wrist through his grasp and reach for the pieces. "Of course."

After roughly an hour-and-a-half of playing the game finally ends, with me being the surprise victor. Garth comes in second place, followed by Kory, Donna, and then Dick. The acrobat grumbles as he sinks into the couch. "I suddenly remember why I don't like this game."

Garth just laughs as he puts the game away. "Man, with the way you played I'm surprised the Fearsome Five didn't kill us."

"Garth is correct," Kory adds. "You really aren't the best regarding large scale combat," she notices his dejected look and quickly adds a compliment. "But you do stellar work with smaller teams. So, stick with that."

Dick's smile comes back full force. Man, I had no idea he was crushing on her this hard. Wonder if I was like that with Donna?

"_You…were," _Lilith tells me, mentally yawning between words.

"_You should go to sleep,"_ I suggest.

The Boy Wonder yawns loudly as he gets up, already heading towards his private room in the Tower. "I'm actually kinda tired. See you guys tomorrow."

Garth looks down at his girlfriend and smiles. He then picks her up in a bridal carry and follows Dick. "Lil's looking pretty tired. I'll go to sleep, too. Good night."

"Good night," the rest of us reply as the three head up to their rooms.

Kory, Wally, Donna, and I sit in a comfortable silence. Me and Donna watching as the final round between Wally and Kory comes to an end, the princess winning. Donna and I share a glance and come to a silent agreement—Wally totally threw that match.

The speedster then uses his powers to clean up everything, and after that's done, he stands in front of the door to his room. "Good night, y'all."

I give him a wave as the girls reply.

A few minutes later, Kory gets up, stretching as she yawns. "I am becoming tired as well. Will there be breakfast in the morning?"

I give her a nod. "Yeah, me and Lilith are gonna cook some eggs, bacon, and pancakes if you're okay with that."

Kory smiles brightly as she nods vigorously. "Yes! I enjoy bacon very much!" She then wraps the two of us in a hug. "I eagerly await tomorrow."

After Kory enters her room Donna and I sit back down, our arms around each other. As we sit Donna turns her head towards the elevator. "Hm, Roy's been down there for some time now. What do you think he's doing?"

"Uh, working out. Why else would you go to a gym?" I reply.

Donna points a finger at me with a smirk. "That's what they want you to think."

I quirk an eyebrow as I look around, expecting a camera or something to be trained on us. "Uh…who?"

Donna just smiles as she stares at me.

I roll my eyes and bring her in closer to me, my cheek resting on the side of her forehead. Donna laughs as she has her hands on my chest. "I'm glad you asked me out," she whispers.

"Really now?" I ask, tilting my head so our foreheads rest against each other.

I feel Donna nod. "Really. When I meet people, they have this…feel about them. And there was something intriguing about yours, it was like it was pulling me in."

Hm, interesting.

"Are you an empath?" I ask.

Donna pulls her head back and looks me in the eyes, her ocean blue meeting my vibrant orange. "Yes. Granted us Amazonians aren't the most powerful of empaths," she answers.

I arch an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

"It's a gift given to us by Aphrodite. As you know, it allows us to feel the emotions of others, and to get a sense of a person," Donna begins explaining. "It's also said that if we spend enough time with the one we love, we begin to feel their emotions. Even know their exact location at all times."

_Really_ interesting.

"Do you have any connections this deep?" I ask.

Donna nods. "Quite a few. While my love for them is different I always know the locations of Mother, Helena, and Diana. And I can understand their emotions better than most others. Hell, I'm starting to feel a connection with Bruce, Dick, and Alfred as well."

"What about in the romantic sense?" I continue asking.

Donna takes a moment to think before eventually nodding. "It's weird to explain, but there was this one day when Diana and Bruce just seemed... I don't know, closer than ever before. I mean, the two would finish each other's sentences sometimes. And they'd always know where the other was."

"That's something I definitely want to look into," I whisper.

Donna smirks and kisses me on the tip of my nose. "Really? And how exactly would you look into this?"

"I was thinking about asking Bruce and Diana if they realized the changes in their relationship. Maybe ask about what the two days were like, the one before they "connected" and the day after-" I finally realize what Donna's insinuating. My face heats up again.

Donna chuckles as she nuzzles her head into my neck. "Finally. For someone so smart you really aren't so perceptive, are you?"

"Heh, no, not really," I look down to see Donna's eyes drooping just a little. I get up and help her stay standing. "You should get some rest. You look tired."

Donna hugs me tightly before backing up a little, our arms still around each other's waists. "See you tomorrow, handsome," Donna says with a smile.

I feel a smile grow on my face. "See you tomorrow, beautiful."

Donna gets out of my arms and heads up to her room. She stops at the door and turns around, blowing me a kiss before going to bed.

My smile grows as the warm feeling in my chest stays. Yeah, we just started dating, but I already know Donna's wonderful. Pun absolutely intended.

I hear the ding of the elevator doors. Turning around I see a heavily sweating Roy walk into the main area, wiping the sweat off his forehead with a towel. He heads to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water. For a while things are silent between the two of us as he chugs the bottle, finishing it in four gulps.

Finding the silence to be too uncomfortable I speak up. "You get in a good workout?"

Roy nods. "Yeah."

Well, that wasn't the most in depth of answers now, was it? Then again, I did ask a yes or no question, I should change up my tactics.

"What'd you think about the Fearsome Five? Any standout to you?" I ask, hoping for a deeper answer.

Roy takes a moment to think before answering. "Neutron, definitely. His powers were the most dangerous, one wrong move and San Fran could've been nuked."

I see his reasoning. Each member of the Fearsome Five was dangerous in their own way. Psimon with his psychic abilities, Mammoth's strength, Doctor Light's suit, Shimmer's transmutation, and Neutron's powers. But like Batman said, at least the three we captured were the most dangerous.

Which leads to my next point. "What do you think happened to Mammoth and Shimmer?" I ask.

"Don't know. All I do know is that we'll find them eventually, and when we do, make sure to not leave you alone with them," Roy says.

I narrow my eyes as I look at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Roy finally looks back up at me. "I mean that Mammoth and Shimmer escaped because you didn't keep an eye on them. If I were in your shoes, I'd make sure they never even got the chance to escape."

I bristle at his words. "I'm sorry, but there were more pressing matters to deal with, like, I don't know, Light's power-up threatening to go boom and taking at least five miles of San Francisco with it."

"Daichi, you have superhuman senses, you could literally hear everything going on at once," Roy argues. "Hell, I bet you'd be able to hear whatever stupid story Ollie is making right now if you wanted to," he folds his arms and glares at me. "Well?"

My frown deepens as I listen for Oliver Queen's voice, and sure enough, he's telling a story. "So, he was whining about how he was saving the city or whatever, but with my best Batman impression I was all like, "You have failed this city!" And I kid you not, he wet himself."

The other League members hanging out with him all break out in laughter at that.

I stop listening and look at Roy again. He just does a get on with it motion with one of his hands. "It was a story about someone failing the city," I relent.

"And what else did you hear?"

"Lois and Clark having a conversation," I reply.

"All at the same time," Roy says with a shake of his head. "Tell me again, how the hell did Mammoth and Shimmer escape from your "perfect" senses again?"

I take some deep breaths as I glare at Roy. What the hell? I just wanted to get to know him better, where'd this aggression come from? Has he always been an asshole? "Where's this coming from, Roy?"

"Don't change the subject," he says.

"No, you're changing the subject. I just wanted to know if you had any theories about Mammoth and Shimmer and now I'm the bad guy? What's your angle?" I argue. "And besides, just because my senses are "perfect" doesn't mean I am. I'm still human."

Roy just glares before turning around without replying, heading towards his room. Oh, we aren't done.

Using my telekinesis, I stop him from taking the first step up the stairs. He grits his teeth as he turns his head to look at me. "Cut it out."

"No. We're getting to the bottom of this, Harper. I'll ask again: what. Is. Your problem. With me?" I ask, walking closer to him.

Roy's scowl deepens as I end my telekinetic grip over him. Good, he isn't walking away, instead he's walking towards me. He pokes his finger into my chest as the two of us make eye contact. "My problem with you is that you've been given so much even though you've barely been here," he begins.

I tilt my head slightly.

Roy continues his tirade. "You've been here for what? A month and a half? And suddenly you're the biggest thing since the Justice League, even if you've done nothing to earn it! You've been on the Watchtower, you're second-in-command, the whole internet's gone rabid about you. Worst of all you-"

He stops himself, breaking eye contact and looking down, clenching his fist angrily.

My eyes narrow in intrigue. "I what?"

"Nothing," Roy grounds out.

I let out a quick laugh. "I call bull. You said it was the worst, meaning it isn't nothing. You had no problem with calling out my other "problems", what more could this last one do?"

Roy grits his teeth in anger, clenching his fists tighter. Wonder if he's gonna punch me, that'd be dumb of him to do.

While looking at him, I notice his eyes quickly flick upstairs towards the private rooms, one in particular.

Donna's room.

Oh. Oh, now it all makes sense.

If I remember correctly, Roy has a thing for Donna, although I'm not sure if it ever pans out, wasn't really a romance I knew a lot about when reading the comics.

"You think I took Donna from you, don't you?" I whisper.

Roy's reaction tells me everything.

His eyes widen in surprise before narrowing in anger. He looks me in the eyes again, glaring me down for a moment before sneering. He turns around without another word and heads towards his room, leaving me alone in the living room.

Great, things are gonna be awkward between the three of us now, aren't they? That's just… Great.

For crying out loud, this team's barely started and we already have a love triangle. This is gonna bite us in the ass later, I just know it.

With another sigh I walk upstairs, heading towards my room. Once I reach the top of the staircase, I look up to see Garth leaning on the wall between the door to our rooms. "How much did you hear?" I ask.

Garth gets up from the wall and leans on the railing. "All of it. Atlanteans have really good hearing, something not a lot of people know."

I groan as I lean on the railing next to him, the two of us looking down at the living room of our base. There's an awkward silence hanging in the air as the two of us just stand together. Thankfully, Garth speaks up.

"We've all known each other for some time now," he begins explaining. "Roy and Donna have known each other for almost two years, and during that entire time Roy's had a soft spot for her."

"If it's been that long then why didn't he just act on it?" I ask.

"Because he was scared. Donna's a beautiful girl, she can make friends with practically anyone, and she's extremely tough. Roy didn't want to ruin that," Garth explains. "Doesn't help that she never really showed that kind of interest in anyone until she met you."

"I just asked her out 'cause I thought "why not?" The adrenaline from absorbing all of that energy might have helped too," I reply.

Garth chuckles. "That's what I kept telling Roy, he just never listened. And now he's bitter at a missed opportunity," he sighs and looks forward at nothing. "That's our life, take any opportunity for happiness when you can, never know when it could be your last."

I get up from the railing, my left arm still on it as I turn to look at Garth. "So, you aren't angry at me?"

Garth arches an eyebrow in confusion. "What for?"

"Like you said, you've known Roy for longer than you've known me. Are you mad at me for making him angry?" I ask again.

Garth laughs and gets up, clapping a hand over my shoulder. "No way, man, I'm happy for you and Donna, you guys deserve this," his eyes then go to Roy's room, which happens to be next to his and two down from mine. "Besides, he'll get over it, one way or another."

I smile as I clap a hand over Garth's shoulder. "Thanks, man, I appreciate it."

He waves it off. "I know, I'm awesome," his eyes brighten as he snaps his fingers. "Idea. If things go well after your date with Donna, the two of you should come with me and Lilith on a date. We can have a double date!"

"That'd be great," I reply. "I'm going to sleep. See you tomorrow."

Garth pats my back before heading to his door. "See you tomorrow, bro."

I walk over and take off my shirt and pants, throwing them on the chair in front of the desk as I lay down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Roy's words swim through my mind, leading me to wonder if I really was given everything on a silver platter.

I mean, he seemed jealous about me being on the Watchtower, something he shares with his _Young Justice _counterpart, but Dick and Lilith were up there too. Maybe it's something only a rare few are allowed. There's also the fact that I'm second-in-command. Granted, I didn't ask to be given that position, hell, I hate being in any form of leadership position, but it is what it is. And the whole me being popular thing, well, it's not my fault I've exploded all over the internet, is it? I roll over and stare at the wall across from my bed. Whatever.

I close my eyes to try to sleep, but it just eludes me. I sit up with a sigh and stare at the wall ahead of me, Roy's words still swimming in my head.

This is gonna be a long night.

* * *

I didn't sleep at all.

For most of the night I sit on my bed, staring at the wall ahead of me, my mind going all over the place. I wasn't just focusing on my argument with Roy last night, but also on the future, events that might happen that I feel we need to prepare for.

The Black Lanterns, the Omega Titans, Darkseid's next attack, Brainiac's arrival, Perpetua, and the like. But one stands out to me, for personal reasons. Doomsday.

In most of Doomsday's first appearances Jon didn't exist, meaning the kid never lost his father. But now Jon does exist, and I can't let him lose his father.

During the night I looked at the files we have on the known supervillains, some big names missing, meaning they haven't appeared yet.

The Red Lanterns have barely been put in the index, the Star Sapphires, Indigo Tribe, and the Orange Lanterns have yet to appear. So far, the Rival and the Reverse Flash are the only negative speedsters out there, but it makes sense, Inertia's the opposite to Bart and I'm pretty sure Zoom is Wally's opposite. And for Superman, Zod has yet to arrive, meaning Clark, Jon, and Karen Starr are believed to be the last three Kryptonians. Wonder if Jon has a Kryptonian name, I'll have to ask later.

While I study the database of current villains, I notice the sun rising through the bottom of the drapes over my windows. Seeing that as my cue, I turn off the computer in my room and put on some black sweatpants and a Flash t-shirt.

I walk out of my room and stretch my arms upwards as I stand in front of my door. I then activate a holographic screen next to me to see the time, 7:37 AM. May as well make breakfast.

I head over to the kitchen and gather the thing needed to make breakfast. Just as I turn on the stove another door opens. Looking up, I see Lilith walking out of her room, one arm raised upwards and another at an angle as she stretches and yawns loudly. She's wearing a red tank top and green and white short shorts.

When she's done, she comes downstairs and hugs me. "Morning, Dai. I see you're already making breakfast."

I hug her back before backing up and cracking some eggs. "Yeah, I knew you'd wake up soon, thought I'd get started."

Lilith hums and telekinetically lifts a whisk, mixing up the eggs in the bowl. "Sooo…what'd you and Garth talk about last night?"

I stop and blink, the bacon in my hands dropping towards the floor. Thankfully, Lilith keeps them from hitting the floor with her telekinesis. I look at Lilith. "How'd you know about that?" I ask.

"Garth told me. He's in the shower right now. He's been in there for a while, actually. Atlanteans do love their long showers," Lilith answers. "That and your thoughts woke me up last night. They were really loud."

I smile sheepishly. "Oh, sorry about that. Just a lot on my mind is all."

Lilith rolls her eyes as she pours the pancake batter on the pan. "Yeah, I could tell. Even if I can't read your mind, I can feel the emotions tied to your thoughts, and there was a lot. Like, love, happiness, joy, fear, uncertainty, despair, and terror," she rests a hand on my shoulder and looks at me with worried eyes. "Are you okay, Daichi?"

"I'm fine," I wave off.

Lilith looks at me, unconvinced. "You're lying, Daichi. But if you're uncomfortable to share now I understand. Just know I'm here. We all are."

I smile at Lilith. "Thanks, Lil," I head over to the fridge and open it. "Anything we should add to the pancakes?"

"Donna likes blueberries with hers. Just thought you should know that~" she says with a sing-song voice.

Garth comes out of his room, wearing a black shirt with a V-neck and green camo cargo shorts. He jumps over the railing and walks over towards us, kissing Lilith and giving me a fist bump. "Good morning, beautiful. Lilith."

She just rolls her eyes playfully. "Okay, won't lie, I had some dreams about that."

Garth and I make eye contact, confused about what she's talking about, and then we realize and both blush furiously as we break eye contact. "Dammit, Lilith," Garth mutters.

She just laughs as the breakfast continues to cook. The three of us rest on the island in the kitchen as the next teammate wakes up.

From her room, wearing a white shirt with three purple flowers going down the left side and baggy purple sweatpants comes Kory, rubbing her eye tiredly as she comes downstairs, yawning on the way. "Good morning, friends."

"Morning," we reply.

I pick up a piece of bacon and go for the bite, but as I bite down, the bacon disappears thanks to a blue and white blur. It stops to reveal itself as Wally wearing white shorts and a Superman shirt. He laughs and points at my Flash shirt. "Hey, switcheroo!"

"Hey," I swipe what's left of the bacon from his grasp. "My food."

A hand tries to swipe the bacon from me, but thanks to my superior speed I see Dick's hand coming a mile away. Helps that I heard him stealthing around a few minutes ago. I grab him by the arm and flip him over. "That's not happening," I announce.

Dick rolls his eyes as he stands next to Kory, wearing a black shirt with a blue V on the chest (heh) and grey shorts. "Whatever. Now we're just waiting on Donna and Roy."

"Donna has a tendency to sleep in," Kory says. Roy comes out of his room, wearing a red long-sleeved shirt and black shorts. "See what I mean?"

Roy's gaze goes over all of us, stopping on me for a moment before continuing on. Garth notices as well and pats me on the shoulder. "Breakfast is almost done, maybe you should go and wake Donna up," he says.

I nod silently and head upstairs, walking past Roy as he goes to join the others. This better not keep up during missions, we can't have this unneeded tension when fighting for our lives.

I knock on Donna's door, after a while it opens. The Amazonian Princess looks extremely tired, her curly hair all over the place, covering one of her eyes. One of the sleeves of her shirt is hanging off of her shoulder, and one of the legs of her Wonder Woman pajama pants is up above her knee.

Donna's tired face breaks out in a smile after a moment of looking at me with narrowed eyes. "Daichi!" She walks forward and hugs me tightly before pulling me into her room, the door closing behind us. "Is breakfast ready?"

"Uh, yeah, I came to wake you up, actually," I answer, sitting on her bed. "Lilith and I made some blueberry pancakes, by the way."

Donna smiles again as she grabs some clothes. "Let me take a shower and clean up, okay?"

I nod and get up, heading towards the door. Donna grabs my hand. "Yeah?" I ask.

"Wait, okay? I wanna talk privately," Donna says.

I nod again and sit down on her bed. Donna kisses my cheek before going towards the bathroom, but before she enters and gives me a playful glare. "Don't use your x-ray vision, or else…"

I feel a smile break out. "Got it,' besides, I can't, the walls are lead lined.

Donna enters her private bathroom, a short while later I hear the shower turn on.

While she showers, I lay down on her bed, my legs on the floor as I stare up at the ceiling. My phone vibrates, pulling it out of my pocket I see a message from Garth.

**Garth**: She awake?

**Me**: Yeah, just taking a shower right now.

**Garth**: Oooh? And why are you in the room, hm? ;)

**Me**: …

**Garth**: You should hurry, though, Lilith and Kory can only hold Wally back for so long.

**Me**: Got it.

I put my phone away and continue to stare up, my mind blank.

From the edge of my vision Donna's head pokes up, her hair now more on the wavy side rather than curly. She smiles and boops me on the nose. "Have you been like that the entire time?" She asks.

I blink and sit up, looking at Donna. She's still wearing her Wonder Woman pajama pants, but now her shirt is a white tank top with Shazam's lightning bolt on it. I get up and stand next to her. "How long have you been in there?" I ask.

"About fifteen minutes," Donna answers.

My eyes widen in surprise. "We should go. Who knows how much of the breakfast Wally's already ate."

Donna reaches out and stops me again by grabbing my hand. I turn around to see her conflicted face, like she wants to say something. "What's up?" I ask.

Donna thinks for another moment before shaking her head. "Nothing," she then walks forward through the door. "You're right, let's hurry before Wally begins to complain."

As we go downstairs the others look up to see us coming downstairs, our hands still connected. Wally groans and flops on the table, his left arm almost smacking the plate of bacon. "Finally. Look, if you two are gonna have sex or whatever, do it _after _we eat. I don't wanna wait for my breakfast ever again."

I don't know about Donna, but I feel my face heat up intensely. I try to reply but all that comes out are noises that don't sound close to being words. Donna just raises a finger, trying to argue against Wally, but like me, she just makes noises, no words.

The others laugh at our embarrassed situations. Well, almost all of them. As expected, Roy has a deep frown on his face as he looks away from us, his hand tightening around the fork in his grip. Poor fork.

Garth is the first to recover. "All right, that's enough teasing. Come on, let's eat!"

Thank you, Garth, for being an awesome friend.

Me and Donna sit together at one end of the table, opposite Roy. As I reach for another blueberry pancake, I look down to see one of the strips of bacon on my plate missing. Wally didn't use his superspeed, and if Dick were to try and stealth his way to it, I'd hear, so who? A familiar orange hand reaches out and grabs another piece of bacon.

Looking up, I see Kory is the culprit. Looking at her plate I also see that half of it is bacon. "Jeez, Kory, you weren't kidding about loving bacon," I mutter.

"Oh! I am sorry, did you want some?" She asks, rotating her plate so the bacon side faces me.

"I'm good, I'll just grab some from here. Thanks though," I smile as I grab more bacon and eat it from the plate. Pretty sure if I brought it back to my plate Kory would just steal it again.

Wally smirks as he rests his head on his hand. "You know, I remember promising to take you to France or China. So, which one did you choose?"

Dick frowns as he flicks some eggs at Wally, hitting the speedster on the side of the face. Wally goes for a retaliation, but Lilith stops that. "Nope. Not happening. Dick, clean that up,"

As Dick goes to clean up the eggs Kory smiles. "Oh, no need," she says, catching most of us by surprise. "Diana, Donna, and I have already been to France before. And Diana and I have been to China."

Wally blinks in surprise. "Wait, seriously?"

Donna nods. "Yes. A few weeks ago, some Stymphalian Birds were seen in France, the three of us went to deal with it. We ate after."

"And Diana and I went to China to assist Vixen in capturing Cheetah. Sadly, it didn't work out as planned," Kory adds. "But we also ate there! The food is delicious!"

Garth points at her with his fork as he chews on some bacon. "Villains escape all the time," I feel his gaze flicker towards me then he looks at Roy. "If you don't get her next time, you'll get her eventually, I'm sure of it."

Kory nods with a smile. "Yes, we will."

"All right!" Wally announces, slamming his hand into the table. "We're gonna play an Earth game that I'm sure the two of you are gonna enjoy."

Kory and I share a glance. "Will we really?" She asks.

Dick and Garth laugh loudly. The two get up and stand on either side of Wally, getting in his face. "OOOOOH!" They shout.

Lilith chuckles and shakes her head. "Okay, what game do you have in mind, Wally?"

"Twenty Questions!"

Kory raises an eyebrow. "I take it we all ask each other twenty questions?"

Wally does a so-so motion with his hand. "Our version's a little different. We'll focus on someone, say me, and you guys can all ask me twenty questions in total. If it's one we aren't comfortable with answering just ask another."

Kory hums before shrugging her shoulders. "I say we play. What about you, Daichi?"

I nod. "Sure, what better way to get to know each other than twenty questions?"

Wally smirks as he sits back down, the rest of us asking him a multitude of questions.

* * *

For the next two-and-a-half hours the eight of us ask questions, some serious, others stupid, but in the end, it brings us closer. Most of us.

The rest of the weekend flies by, the Teen Titans growing closer, but the unseen tension between me and Roy hangs in the air, creating a semi-awkward atmosphere. But it doesn't matter, 'cause I got to be closer with the others, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

And on Sunday, we take a picture of all of us in our suits.

Kory and Wally are at the left end of the couch, an arm around each other's shoulders as they smile widely, both of them doing peace signs. Dick's next to them, Donna's arm around his neck as she pulls him in close, with her other arm around my neck. I rest my right arm on Lilith's shoulder as she sits with her legs across Garth's and Roy's laps. Garth's got an arm around Lilith's back and a hand on Roy's head. Roy has a small smile as he rests an arm on Lilith's legs and another on the armrest on the right side of the couch.

All in all, a great weekend for the Teen Titans.

* * *

**Boom, end of the chapter. **

**Like I said before, this chapter's going to show the relationship between the team building up or breaking down. Next chapter will be the date between Daichi and Donna, a quick little mission, and then a timeskip that'll bring us to the main point of this arc. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you two Saturdays from now, you beautiful people! **


	8. Love and Exploration

**Time to continue the story! So, this chapter's gonna be more relationship building and learning about what's on the thumb drive before a time skip of a few months, then we'll meet two very important Superman related characters. And after that we'll get to meet the main villains of this arc. **

**I'd also like to announce that I'm writing a Ben 10/Justice League****crossover fanfic called **_**Triumphant**_**. I don't have a planned update schedule for it, so I might just upload it at a random time, but know that if I do, this and my X-Men story will still be top priority, so updates might take some time for that story. As of writing this author's note (May 30, 2020 I've finished the first two chapters) I gotta say, it is kinda weird to write two absolutely different DC stories, but I'm getting used to it, so there's that. **

**Now, to reply to some reviews! **

**AlexFalTon: **Yeah, Omen's not that popular compared to the rest of the team. She appeared rather early actually and dated Dove for a short time. She died during the Graduation Day event at the same time as Donna in the Pre-52 universe and came back as a Black Lantern, but she never came back to life. During Rebirth, she was on the first iteration of the Titans with Tempest, Nightwing, Troia, Arsenal, and Flash III. My Teen Titans is based off that build, with Starfire and Apex added and more as the story continues.

And don't worry, where Roy is, Jade's sure to follow. It might be a while until she appears, but she'll be here, just hold on.

**Mangahero18:** As you've no doubt figured out now, Daichi isn't the arrogant type, he's a pretty serious guy who makes sure everything, name and actions, matter. But yeah, I made sure the interactions Daichi has with the others are all unique, same with the way they interact with each other, and man, I can't wait to write more of the Evolutionary. And Gizmo and Jinx are going to appear soon, reeeeal soon.

Daichi's training is deeply ingrained into him, and so, he doesn't go all out in fights, he only uses as much power as necessary, but he increases his output if he must. Just saying, we haven't seen his full power yet, not even close. Oh, yeah, Klarion's a scary ass dude, and he'll be important in the next arc. And on that last review—agreed. 100% agreed.

**That's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**Love and Exploration**

It's now been a day since the hangout ended, and as expected, we're all closer to each other, the game of twenty questions definitely helped on the first day. We'd have little competitions, and games, and quiet conversations throughout the weekend as well. Occasionally, Red Tornado would come along to check up on us. Once satisfied, he'd leave for a few hours, doing whatever an android does.

Right now, it's after school and Kory, Donna, and I are flying to Wayne Manor. As the three of us soar over a busy highway, Kory does a barrel roll. I look at her with a small smile. "You love flying."

Kory smiles. "Of course I do! It's so liberating to be in the air, the wind whipping through your hair as gravity's oppressive hold is gone," she looks down at the crowded highway with sympathy. "Poor non-fliers."

Donna chuckles and does a barrel roll as well, the two girls switching places on either side of me, Kory now on my right and Donna to my left. "You got that right. I feel bad for Dick, Wally, and Roy, they'll never know the joy of flying with your own power," she then thinks it over. "Well, not so much with Wally, what with his speed and all."

"How did he get his powers?" Kory asks.

"Oh, he blew up some chemicals trying to copy his uncle's origin. Rather stupid if you ask me, but hey, it worked, so I can't really blame him," Donna answers.

"True," Kory agrees. "And I must admit, moving at his speeds has always interested me. Daichi, you move closest to his speeds, what's it like?"

I think it over for a moment. I've never had to describe superspeed to anyone before. "It's…quiet. When we hit a certain speed, we break the sound barrier, that's what those sonic booms are, so we can't hear anything. But Clark and Barry were able to create special commlinks that allow for people with superspeed to talk with each other whilst we…speed."

"That sounds amazing," Kory whispers in awe. "A world of just everything you see, no sounds to distract you from the beauties of this world. How fast can you go?"

"Faster than light," I answer. "But not as fast or Barry, Wally, or Jay Garrick."

"Ah, yes, Jay Garrick, I wish to meet him. I wish to meet the Justice Society, actually," Kory says. "Diana believes it would be beneficial for me to train under Wildcat."

"You should. I'm planning on training under him, too," I announce. "Maybe we can go together."

"That would be great!" Kory says excitedly. "Donna?"

"I'll come along to see and maybe brush up on my skills. My Amazonian training has done more than enough to save my ass," she answers.

"It can never hurt to have multiple fighting skills," I advise. "I've lost count as to how many times I've had to switch my fighting style to win a fight."

Donna looks at me with a smirk. "Well, maybe you can show me some of your skills?"

"Of course," I reply.

Donna and Kory shake their heads in amusement as we land inside of the Batcave, Bruce sitting at the computer, the thumb drive next to his resting hand. He turns to as we enter and has a light smile on his face. "How was school?"

Donna shrugs her shoulders as her backpack hangs over one of her arms. "Same old, same old. Where's Helena? She's usually down here at this time."

"Her and Diana went to visit your mother at Themiscyra. They'll be back tomorrow," Bruce answers.

Kory nods as she heads towards the elevator. "I have much homework to do, I'd like to get it done now."

Donna lightly punches my shoulder before turning around to join Kory. "Don't forget to say bye when you leave."

I nod as the two go up to Wayne Manor. With them gone, I walk over and stand next to Bruce as he puts the thumb drive into the Batcomputer, the screen changing to a familiar log-in prompt.

In the username I enter my name, and for password I enter my old name. The second thing I do at high speed, something that causes Bruce to raise his eyebrow. The screen then changes to a rather spartan desktop, two folders on the left side.

Bruce moves the mouse over the first one, he clicks it open to reveal two documents in it. "Not a lot of data in this, is there?" He comments.

"His primary projects were all on a singular computer in The Ship, this thumb drive's only the tip of the iceberg," I answer.

He opens the first document, on it is just the list of names. "What's it say?" Bruce asks. The language on the thumb drive isn't something from Earth.

"It's a list of names," I answer. "Guardians of the Universe, Mongol, Braniac, Highfather, Darkseid, and others."

Bruce hums. "Highfather and the Guardians of the Universe with names like Mongol and Darkseid. Something's off about that. Do you know why those names specifically?"

I scratch the back of my head. "I have an idea. I think it might be a list of the people who either want me under their control or in custody," Bruce looks at me with an arched brow. "Humans are a dangerous species according to the rest of the universe, and by having an evolved human out there things are blown out of proportion."

"I see... And who's this Braniac? I've never heard of him until now," Bruce asks.

"He's one of Clark's villains," I explain. "He's a huge threat too. I can tell you more about him later."

Bruce exits the document and opens the next one. It's a picture of my wanted poster. "That is a rather large bounty," he comments. "The League's having a meeting by the week's end, about our expansion."

"Cool. What names do you have?" I ask.

The screen to the right activates, showing pictures of the candidates. "The Atom, Black Lightning, Blue Beetle, Blue Devil, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, the Elongated Man, Fire and Ice, Firestorm, Icon, The Question, and Zatara," Bruce lists off.

I whistle in appreciation. "That's one hell of an expansion."

"Indeed," Bruce hums. "Anyone we should keep an eye out for?"

My gaze lingers on Blue Beetle. Right now, Ted Kord holds the mantle. "No. All of these people are great heroes, no need to worry about betrayals."

"Good," Bruce's phone rings. "It's Barry," he answers the phone.

As he talks with the Flash I look back at the picture of the candidates. If I'm being honest, I don't know a lot about these guys regarding comics. Most of my exposure to these characters stems from the DCAU, but others like Elongated Man, Firestorm, and Black Lightning I learned the most about them through the Arrowverse.

I then look at Zatara. Unless I'm mistaken, he's only been on the Justice League in _Young Justice_, with Zatanna being a younger hero. But in his picture, he looks to be in his early to mid-forties, meaning Zatanna's around our age. Cool, she might join the team.

With my senses I can tell someone's coming at us. Fast.

A red blur stops right next to me. Bruce turns off his phone as Barry lowers his reinforced cowl. The speedster looks at me. "Oh, hey Daichi! How are ya?"

"I'm good, Mr. Allen-"

"Please, call me Barry."

"I'm good, Barry," I correct.

He nods and points at the pictures of the candidates. "Any of these guys stand out?"

Again, my gaze goes to Blue Beetle, something they both notice. "You said there was nothing to worry about," Bruce says.

"It's not like that," I say.

I've now hit one of the biggest dilemmas, incoming death. Everybody dies, that's an inevitability. But I also realize that there are some deaths I can try to prevent, but I feel like that'd make things FUBAR.

Example: Jason Todd. His death is a big part of his story, if I change that who knows what would happen, that's definitely not something I want to deal with. But Ted Kord's another thing. Back in the original main universe his death was a big part of his character, which leads to Jaime Reyes becoming Blue Beetle III. But in the new main universe, post-Flashpoint, he's alive, and Jaime's still Blue Beetle.

Dammit, let's do this.

With a deep sigh, I point at his picture. "Death is inevitable, and in our line of work it's more likely to happen. Most of Blue Beetle's stories end in his death, which leads to a third Blue Beetle."

Barry and Bruce share a glance. "I'll be sure to inform the League. But Daichi," Bruce says. "The deaths you see coming? Don't say anything again."

I look at him confused.

Barry puts a hand on my shoulder. "We've found that when you mess with the universe's plans, it tends to mess with you back. Hard. We don't want anything to happen to you, you know?"

I look between the two. "But the Justice League does this all the time, doesn't it?"

Barry chuckles guiltily and rubs the back of his head. Bruce looks at him with a smirk. "Yeah, we do."

"But there's a reason we have these targets on our chests," Barry says, poking his thumb on his lightning bolt symbol. He then looks at the main screen. His eyes widen in surprise as he quickly realizes what the picture is, even if it isn't in English. "Whoa, I may be mistaken, but that's a lot of money."

"It is," Bruce says. He tries to delete it, but he can't. He turns to look at me for an explanation.

"The Evolutionary's very adamant about his data being deleted without his approval. Even a simple picture needs a DNA, fingerprint, and pupil scan along with a series of passwords to delete," I answer.

"But wouldn't the data have deleted itself if I put in the password wrong the first time?" Bruce asks.

"Yeah, but he has a backup on his personal computer. Even then, he absolutely hates his data being deleted," I say. I then look at Barry. "And you can't enter any possible combination of passwords available here, some of them use alien characters that we don't have."

"Well, there goes that idea," Barry mutters. "Oh, so, what do you say, Bruce?"

"She's in Themiscyra with Diana, but I'll be sure to tell them when they come back," Bruce replies.

I look between the two, confused. Barry notices. "Oh, Iris wanted to have a playdate for the kids of the League. I'm coming around and inviting the others. I actually just invited Lois and Jon just before I came here."

"You have a kid?" I ask.

Barry nods with a proud smile. "Twins! Don Henry and Dawn Nora Allen!"

Oh, they have those names.

Bruce chuckles as he removes the thumb drive. He then gets up, the two of us following him to the elevator. "Seriously, Barry, what were you thinking with those names?"

Barry shrugs as we go up the elevator. "Hey, Iris thought it'd be cute, who am I to argue?"

"But Don and Dawn? Couldn't you have named your daughter Nora or something?" I ask.

Bruce looks at him with a smirk.

Barry sighs and slumps his shoulders. "Yeah, I see your reasoning. I mean, Don's starting to prefer Henry. Even though they're only four," as we go up, Barry looks at Bruce. "Should I change out of my suit?"

We exit the elevator to enter Bruce's office. He walks forward and checks the cameras on a tablet. "No, everyone here's aware."

The three of us head over to the kitchen where we find Alfred, Kory, Donna, and Dick sitting at the table. The girls changed into more casual clothes and Dick still in his school uniform. The acrobat is the first to notice us. "Yo!"

Barry waves as he walks forward, high-fiving Dick before grabbing an apple from the plate in the center of the table. "Hey, guys! Ooh, homework, was never a fan of it when I was in school."

"Is anyone ever a fan of this homework?" Kory wonders aloud.

"Point," Barry says.

"Sooo…what're you doing here?" Dick asks.

"Master Richard!" Alfred chides.

The Boy Wonder winces. "Sorry. Might I ask what it is you are doing here?" He asks again, this time with an overly British accent.

Barry chuckles as he points at me with this thumb. "I actually came to talk to Daichi."

I blink in surprise. "Oh, what about?"

"I got the report that Grodd came to Keystone to capture you. Do you know what about?" He asks.

The others look at me, interested as well. "Yeah, I think he was working with Klarion the Witch Boy. But Klarion only wanted to see me," I answer.

Bruce and Barry hum. "Curious," the former says. "I'll have Dr. Fate look into it, maybe he can give us some insight as to what Klarion's possible actions could be."

"Wouldn't that be hard?" I wonder. "I mean, Klarion's a Lord of Chaos, his actions don't have to mean anything in particular."

"How do you know this?" Donna asks.

"I read his file," I answer. "I read all the files we have. Didn't you guys?"

Kory shakes her head while Donna and Dick avoid looking at Bruce. I smile and shake my head before kissing Donna's cheek. "I'm gonna go home. If you need to get in contact, you know how."

Me and Dick high five and I hug Kory as the three adults nod before I speed home.

* * *

**Metropolis**

I arrive to find Clark sitting on the couch in the living room working on something on his laptop while Jon watches TV. "Daichi! Hey!"

"Oh, hey, Clark. Where's Lois? Wasn't she just here?" I ask.

"She's at The Planet," Clark answers. "Which leads me to my next point, she wants you to meet her there."

I arch a brow and head to my room, I put my backpack on my bed. "What for?" I ask at a normal volume.

"She didn't tell me," Clark replies.

I walk over to the door, rubbing Jon's head on the way. "All right, see you guys in a bit I guess."

I walk outside in the early October air of Metropolis, the leaves beginning to change color and falling slowly in the wind. I smile as I put in my earbuds, listening to my music. The Fall's easily my favorite of the four seasons. The beautiful visuals of the leaves falling through the air, the crunch of leaves as you step on them, the cool, autumn air. Helps that the translation of Aki is autumn. I think the rough translation of my name would be the Great Autumn Mountain. Pretty cool if I say so myself.

I stop at a crosswalk as cars go by. I smile and look around. In the few months I've been here I've never actually taken the time to really appreciate my new home. Buildings that are white and gold in the business district, clean air, and all-around nice people.

After crossing the street, I look over to see the statue of Clark in his Superman suit with an arm raised, an eagle resting on it. The sun stays high in the sky above it. Yeah, Daichi, you chose the perfect place to end your date.

"Yo! Daichi!"

I look across the street to find Lois standing in front of the Daily Planet, waving me over. I walk over and take out my earbuds, hugging Lois as she pulls me into one. "How was school?" She asks as we enter the building.

I shrug as Lois shows her ID to the receptionist, the two of us then enter an elevator and head to the top floor. "Same old, same old. Kind of wish I went to a school that was more challenging, though."

Lois snorts. "That's a first, a teenager wanting a more challenging school."

I laugh at that. "Yeah, it is. But look at who I am," I look at my hand and clench it into a fist. "While I am the peak of human evolution that doesn't mean I'm the strongest there is. I _need _to test myself. Both mentally and physically."

Lois nods as we go past the halfway point. "I see what you mean. I fought tooth and nail to be the top reporter here at the Planet, and I won't lie, definitely more fun than being at the top," I find myself partially agreeing with her. Fighting to get stronger is fun, but I don't know what it'd be like if I hit the top. She looks up at me. "Have you taken any AP classes?"

"They only let sophomores take three," I answer. "And those are still easy. I've been wondering: why am I going to Happy Harbor and not a school here in Metropolis?"

"Happy Harbor doesn't see a lot of meta activity, so we decided that'd be the best place to send you kids. Helps that the counselor, Snapper Carr, is an associate of the Justice League," Lois answer.

I look forward in surprise. "I have a meeting with him on Friday. Donna and the others made sure I'd go to it."

How the hell did I forget about Snapper Carr? Well, he isn't the biggest of characters, but still, _Young Justice _was one of my favorite shows, and he appeared a few times. He was even in the comic!

Lois nods as the elevator doors open, the two of us walk into the top floor of the Daily Planet, reserved for its top reporters. "Make sure you go to it, alright?" She then looks around the office with a smile. "Well, welcome to the Daily Planet, Daichi!"

Looking around I see people bustling about, trying their best to get a certain story written first. I can also see private offices along the walls. Thanks to my super hearing I was able to hear them shouting when I was down at the lobby, still doesn't help now that I'm in the middle of it all.

Lois notices and looks at me with a concerned face. "Are you okay?"

I nod as I dull my hearing a little. "Yeah, just still getting used to the sound of people shouting over each other is all."

"If it gets to be too much tell me, all right?" Lois asks.

I nod and give her a smile. "Thanks, but I think I'll be fine," I then look around. "So, why am I here exactly?"

"You need a job."

I look at Lois confused. "...What?"

She puts an arm around my shoulder and leads me through the office, greeting people as she walks by. "Daichi, all you do is go to school, fight crime, and stay home, you need to do more."

"Well, that's not true! I train also, and I…hang out with my friends! Who also…fight crime…" I counter. I slump my shoulders as Lois looks at me with an arched brow. "Yeah, I really don't do a lot."

The two of us enter an office, half of the shouting seems to come from this room alone. I look up to see Perry White shouting at a group of reporters and one Jimmy Olsen. "JIMMY! WHAT THE HELL'RE THESE PICTURES!?" He waves blurry pictures of me flying with Superman in the air. "I KNOW YOU KID; I KNOW YOU CAN TAKE BETTER PICTURES! SO EXPLAIN THIS!"

Jimmy stutters a bit. "W-w-well you see, Apex moves fast, like, really stupid fast. It's hard to get pictures of him in action."

Lois and I share a glance. Maybe I should slow down, just for his sake though.

Perry stares him down before slowly letting out a heavy breath. "Do your best, kid, I know you'll get a pic at some point. You're one of the best damn photographers on the entire eastern seaboard!"

Jimmy looks back up with a determined smile. "Got it, boss!"

Perry then turns to the other photographers but then stops once he notices us, a giant smile comes over his face. "LOIS!" He marches over and brings her into a hug before turning to me. "So, this is the kid? What's your name? What can you do? How do you know her and Kent? And why should I hire you?"

"Uh…" That was pretty fast, actually, even for me.

Lois walks over and puts her hands on my shoulders. "Perry White, this is Daichi Akiyama, Daichi, this is Perry," he and I shake hands. "Daichi's staying with me and Clark. His parents died in an accident not too long ago."

Perry looks at me with a somber look before nodding. "Sorry to hear that. But you still haven't told me what you can do!"

"I-"

Someone from outside pokes his head into the office. "Uh, boss? The internet kinda died."

"KINDA!? KINDA!? IT'S EITHER DEAD OR IT AIN'T! WHICH ONE IS IT!?" Perry demands.

Man, he shouts a lot, doesn't he? Can't be good for his cholesterol.

Jimmy pulls up his phone. "Yeah, it's dead all right. See? I'm on data now."

Perry groans and runs a hand down his face. "And our internet guy's on paternity leave, dammit."

I look around before slowly raising my hand. "Uh, I can do it," everyone then looks at me. Shouldn't have said anything.

"What was that?" Perry asks.

"I can do it," I say, louder this time. "Just lead me to the servers or whatever and I could fix the problem easily."

Perry looks at Lois. She has a proud smile on her face. "Trust him, Daichi's a smart kid."

Perry studies me before nodding and turning to Jimmy. "Lead the kid to the server room."

Jimmy nods and heads towards the door. "Come on, man! Today marks the beginning of the Adventures of Jimmy and Daichi!"

I look at Lois, she gives me a smile and a thumbs up before pushing me to follow Jimmy. Eh, may as well.

The two of us walk through the group of reporters panicking about the lack of access to the internet. Once Jimmy and I enter the elevator I turn to him. "You guys must be serious about this."

He puts his ID on a special part of the elevator's console before turning to me. "Oh, yeah. I mean, look at the world we live in! Aliens, demigoddess, space cops, Atlanteans, metahumans, and more! Being a reporter's pretty demanding, especially if you cover stuff like that. I mean, Lois was already a well-known reporter, but with Superman's appearance her popularity's skyrocketed, so has Clark's. Speaking of, sorry about your parents."

I look down, my previous life comes to mind. My parents then weren't exactly the best, my Mom was…let's just stick with the "not the best" label, while my Dad was just there physically, not so much emotionally, nothing much to it. Then there's Lois and Clark, they've done more for me in the few months I've known them then my previous parents did in the nineteen years I knew them.

I look up at Jimmy with a grateful smile. "Thanks, really. They, uh, they were friends with my parents. After the accident they were more than willing to take me in. It's been a great few months, actually."

"I bet," Jimmy replies. "Lois can be tough, but she really does care for the people close to her. And Clark, what else can I say? Dude's awesome. You're a lucky guy, Dai."

"Yeah, I really am," I whisper as the elevator doors open.

The sound of heartbeats immediately catches my attention, the smell of gunpowder does as well. Mm, it isn't just the computers acting up. I should take these guys down fast. Doesn't help that one's waiting just to my left outside of the elevator.

Jimmy walks out and is hit in the head by the butt of a gun, he then falls over. The criminal then looks inside the elevator, but I vibrate in a way that makes me invisible to the naked eye. "Clear," the criminal says into a walkie-talkie.

He then drags Jimmy away. I walk out of the elevator before the doors close and follow him to a secluded area. I then reach out to the criminal's mind and knock him out with telepathy, I stop vibrating to slowly lower him down. I then change into my suit and wake Jimmy up with a slap to his face.

"Oh, man…" He moans. He blinks to clear his vision, and once he notices me in my suit his eyes widen in surprise. "A-"

I quickly put my hand over his mouth and nod at the criminal. He nods, which lets me take my hand off his mouth. "There are three more of them down here, I'm gonna take them down, get out of here."

His eyes widen in fear. "Wait!" He whisper-shouts. "There was someone else with me, a kid. His name's Daichi! Have you seen him?"

I nod. "Yeah, after you got knocked out, he went to the other end of the room, he's safe."

It's amazing what vibrating your face at just the right frequency and vibrating your vocal cords can do. If someone were to see me as Daichi and Apex side-by-side they wouldn't be able to notice we're the same guy. That and I carry myself differently as Apex than Daichi. Clark's disguise is actually surprisingly effective. Doesn't mean I'll wear glasses though.

I turn around to deal with the other criminals but the sound of Jimmy getting his camera-ready catches my attention. I turn around to stare at him. "My boss wants me to take some pictures of you in action. What better time than now, you know?"

"Just don't get in harm's way, got it?" I order.

Jimmy nods with an excited smile. "Got it."

The walkie-talkie on the knocked-out crook squawks. _"Yo, Lance, where the hell are you? We almost got the data."_

Jimmy and I look at each other. Hm, so they're here for data, but why?

The two of us carefully walk through the server room, slowly getting closer to the other three. _"Kai, go check on him," _I hear from the walkie-talkie. I turn to Jimmy and shush him as I hear footsteps—Kai's—coming towards us.

I get ready to ambush him by jumping up on top of the servers, Jimmy gets his camera ready. Once Kai nears, I reach down, a hand over his mouth and pull him up, I can hear Jimmy's camera snap a picture. I then wrap an arm around Kai's neck and slowly choke him unconscious.

I notice Jimmy's concerned look. "He'll wake up in like an hour. Come on, there are two more to deal with, maybe you can get better pictures."

The two of us reach the end of the server room, here we see one of the criminals typing furiously on the computer as another watches his back. I lean to Jimmy. "Watch this," using my telekinesis, I pull the one watching his friend's back to me. The criminal shouts in fear, drawing the other one's attention. Once the guy I'm pulling gets close I punch him in the face, the back of his head slamming into the floor.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" The last guy shouts as he sprays bullets at me.

I just crouch low and catch the bullets, I then turn to Jimmy and give a quick smile before dashing forward and shoulder slamming into the last guy. Before he can crash into the computer, I grab him by the shirt and swing him over my shoulders, slamming him into the ground.

"Uh, is it safe?" Jimmy and I look over to see me, wearing my normal clothes, peek out of some servers. Thanks to super speed I'm capable of being seen in two places at once. A really useful skill. Although, both versions of me flicker every now and again. Though a normal person wouldn't notice it unless they were looking for it.

"One more picture?" I ask as Apex. "I have somewhere important to be."

Jimmy nods enthusiastically as I stand behind the last crook. I have a smile and a thumb up as Jimmy snaps the picture. "Thank you so much!"

I nod. "Of course," I then stop appearing in two places at once, fully becoming Daichi Akiyama.

"Whoa, that was Apex?" I ask in awe.

Jimmy bounces around on his feet. "I know, right? Oh, Perry's gonna love these photos!"

Speaking of, I can hear the elevator coming down. The ding then catches Jimmy's attention. We turn around to see Lois, Perry, and another employee coming down. "THE HELL'S taking…so…long…"

Perry trails off as the three of them notice the knocked-out criminals.

Lois hurries over and pulls me into a hug. She then backs up, her hands still on my shoulders and looks me over. "Are you okay? What happened? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Seriously, if she didn't want to be a reporter, she could totally be an actress.

"Yeah, we're fine," I answer.

Lois smiles and pulls me into another hug. "Good. What did happen though?"

Jimmy excitedly stands next to us. "Oh nothing. Just Apex was here! And that's not all, I got pictures!"

He then goes over, his camera printing physical copies as he does, and waves them in Perry's face. Perry takes the photos and looks them over slowly; he then looks at Jimmy and pulls him into a bearhug. "I knew you had it in you, my boy!"

"That's great and all, boss, but the servers are still down," the employee points out.

"Oh, right!" I hurry over to the computer and do my thing. I then look to the right and find a weird device on the side; I pull it out and observe it. It's green and purple. Of course, two villains come to mind: Joker and Lex Luthor. Thing is, I see no reason for Joker to operate here, but Lex on the other hand, this totally has his fingerprints all over it.

Not literally, I mean, just that technological crimes are more up his alley. His Crime Alley. Wait, no, not that one. I'll just stop.

I put it in my pocket and continue with repairing the servers. One button push later and it's working fine. I turn around with a light smile on my face. "There, it's fixed."

Jimmy pulls out his phone and smile. "He's right, I'm on wi-fi now."

Lois smiles and kisses the side of my forehead. "Nice one!"

"Thanks," I reply as we look at Perry.

"Four days a week, five hours, fourteen bucks per hour. You start next week. What do you say?" Perry lists off.

"Uh, yeah!" We shake hands. "Thank you, sir!"

"Welcome to the Planet, Daisuke!"

"It's Daichi."

"Whatever. Back to work people!" Perry turns around, Jimmy and the employee following him.

Lois and I follow a distance away, so they can't hear our conversation. "Do you know why they were here?" She whispers.

I pull out the device. "Looks like they were doing something for Luthor. But why target this place?"

Lois takes it and puts it in her purse. "Probably wants to see if we have any ties to Superman. We do get a lot of exclusive interviews, after all."

"Makes sense. We should tell Dad," I wince. "I mean, Clark."

Lois smiles and ruffles my hair. "We will. Son," the elevator then goes up.

As the four of them talk I feel a smile grow on my face. "Son." I like the sound of that.

* * *

**Friday **

"Finally, goddamn," Garth groans as we walk towards our lockers. "For some reason today felt so damn long."

Kory nods. "I understand. During my training with the Warlords of Okaara some days felt far longer than others."

"The Warlords of Okaara? Who are those guys?" Garth asks.

"They're a species of warriors," Kory answers.

"They train not only in combat, but in the philosophy of violence and self-worth," I add. "I trained with them for a bit."

"Really? When?" Kory asks.

"About five years ago. I was around ten, or eleven, I think," I answer. "We never really kept track of my age when I was with The Evolutionary," the Amazonian Princess and Atlantean Prince look at me in confusion when I mention my previous…guardian.

"When we get to the Tower, you should go to the med bay," Donna suggests as she holds my hand. "We have a device that can scan your precise age at the Tower. Who knows, we may even find out your birthday in Earth terms."

"That'd be cool," I reply as I lean next to Donna's locker. "I've got my meeting with Mr. Carr soon, see you later today?"

Donna looks at me with a smirk. "Of course you will," she then kisses my cheek. "See you later."

I give her a smile before walking towards the counselor's office, patting Garth's back on the way. I reach the door and knock. "Come in!" A voice says.

I open the door and find a man with shoulder length brown hair, a brown soul patch, and brown eyes sitting behind a desk. He gets up to reveal a black button up shirt and gray slacks. "Ah, you must be Daichi! I'll admit, I've been pretty excited for this meeting."

We shake hands before sitting down. He then presses some buttons I hear a weird noise and notice the windows tint black before becoming normal. "That lets us talk without having to worry about eavesdroppers," Mr. Carr explains as he snaps his fingers. "I'd guess you're Apex, right?"

I nod in response. "Yeah, I am. You work with the Justice League, right, Mr. Carr?"

He lets out a little laugh. "I do. But please, call me Snapper. So, what do you think about it? Being a superhero, I mean."

I lean back in the seat and rest my hand on my chin, humming for a moment. "Not what I expected, not really. I mean, when I was in space, I wasn't training to be a superhero, I was training to be the best. I've killed to survive, I-I don't know if the League would be happy about hearing that."

Snapper waves it off. "When Hal was in the air force, he shot down enemy pilots. When John Stewart was a sniper for the marines, he'd take down targets. Hawkman and Hawkgirl were soldiers for the Thanagarian army. Wonder Woman fought in both World Wars... What I mean to say is, as long as you don't kill again, the Justice League's more than willing to look it over."

Then there's Captain Atom, he hasn't joined yet, but he's a military man as well, so I won't be the only one who's killed in the past. Doesn't really help though.

Snapper seems to sense my apprehension. "I can only guess how hard it is to live with something like that in your past. My advice would be to talk to those League members, maybe they can give you some insight. You can also talk to the other Teen Titans. They're your friends, they'll listen, and they'll understand."

"Yeah, yeah they will," I smile. "It's fun though, fighting supervillains with kids my age. If I'm being honest, the fight against the Fearsome Five was great, it really let us get a feel for each other's skills. I've actually come up with some tactics to help us fight in future battles."

"Really? Like what? If I might ask," Snapper wonders as he snaps his fingers again before resting his head on his folded hands.

"There's one I call eagle-eye, Kory flies in the air as she carries Roy around," his name brings a sour feeling to me that I quickly ignore. "Of all of us, Kory's flight skills are unparalleled, and with Roy's eyes they'd be perfect overwatch."

"You've got that right. One time I had the very tip of my guitar poking out of my bag once and Roy was able to identify its exact model. Kid's scarily perceptive," Snapper comments. "But we're not here to talk about him, we're here to talk about you," he then leans forward and looks me in the eyes. "Many of your teachers have commented about your intelligence, how you've quickly risen to the top of your class and whatnot. But they also talk about your lack of, well, standing out."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You never answer questions unless the teacher calls on you, you go out of your way to avoid standing out in anyway, and you only talk to a select few students," Snapper lists off. "Well, that last one I can understand, most of the kids you talk to are the only ones to really understand you, but you should try making more friends, participating in extracurriculars. Anything catch your interest?"

I shake my head. "Nothing catches my interest. Besides, I'm meant to be the best, my body wants me to find a challenge. Nothing really does that here in school. No offense."

Snapper laughs as he snaps his fingers again. "No, I see your point. How about sports? Football's starting up pretty soon."

"Not really my thing," I reply. Another sport then comes to mind. Soccer. In my previous life I played it for a school year, I wasn't the best, but I enjoyed it, maybe it'll be different now? "How about soccer?"

Snapper nods and does his signature action. "It won't be for some time, but I can see what I can do," his phone then vibrates. Once he looks at it, he tsks before giving me an apologetic look. "Sorry, I have another meeting to get to, it's really important. We'll talk more later!" He says as he leads me to the door.

We shake hands before we exit his office, he goes one way and I head towards my locker. After grabbing my stuff, I head outside to find Garth and Lilith waiting outside. Lilith waves me over. "Dai! Question."

"Lil, answer," I reply as we start walking from the school.

"Where're you taking Donna for your date?" She asks.

"We're gonna go watch a movie, then eat at a nice restaurant nearby, and then have a walk at Centennial Park when the sunsets," I reply.

Lilith nods before I feel her presence in my mind. She deftly moves past my defenses and causes me to hold my head in pain. _"If you hurt her…well, you know what I'm gonna say next."_

I nod frantically. _"Trust me, I won't,"_ I groan in pain. _"Can you get out of my head?"_

Lilith obliges and walks ahead with a smile. Garth looks at me worriedly. "Sorry about that. But as you know, Lilith and Donna are best friends, hell, Donna threatened to castrate me when she found out about me and Lilith."

"Ouch," I reply as I shake my head. "I'm gonna go home, get ready. See you later."

Garth and I fist bump. "See you later, bro."

As the couple walk away, I use my sense to see if anyone's nearby, and would you look at that? No one. Honestly surprised at how many empty places we come across. I then quickly rise into the air and head home, a smile on my face the whole way through.

* * *

**Metropolis**

I arrive home and quickly run into my room. Okay, so Donna should be here in about two hours. Or sooner. Time zones can really mess with planning a date, can't they? Can't focus on that, I have a date to go on!

As I look for clothes to wear, I hear a heartbeat waiting in the doorway. "So, you got everything you need?"

I turn around to see a smirking Clark.

I let out a shaky breath before looking at the pitch-black jeans, red dress shirt, and aviator jacket. Does that work together? Is it too much for a first date? Maybe too little? I shake my head and turn to Clark. "Almost, I just need the flowers."

Clark nods before standing next to me and looking at my clothes, he nods again. "There's a flower shop that's about a ten-minute walk from here," he then hums and looks at my hair. "You'll need to do something about this."

I run my hand through my shoulder length hair. "What? Slick it back?"

Clark nods. "Probably," he then hums and walks around me, studying me intensely. He then nods in approval before leaning on the drawers. "You excited?"

"Very," I admit. "I just hope I don't screw this up. I've never really gone on a date before. Well, there was that one time in my previous life, but I messed that up royally," I then begin to panic. "You don't think I'll do the same with Donna, do you?"

Clark laughs lightly before putting his hands on my shoulders. "You'll be fine, son," he says with a smile.

Right, ever since I got the job Lois decided to mention the time I accidentally called Clark "Dad". I've then found them having some private conversations in Kryptonese every now and again as well, but they'd stop once I come in the room. But that's honestly something I never saw coming, Lois knowing Kryptonese, wonder if they'll teach me. After all, the Evolutionary never taught to imprint it into my head.

And would you look at who's in the room, it's Lois Lane-Kent. She stands on my other side and looks at the clothes. She scrutinizes them before nodding with a hum. "I think you'll attract a lot of attention with these clothes. Donna should be careful! Then again, she is a beautiful girl, maybe you should watch out."

Clark shakes his head. "Don't listen to her, you've got eyes for her, she's got eyes for you, no one else matters."

"Smallville's right. Remember, Dai, be a gentleman, show her a good time, and be sure to use protection," Lois winks at that last one.

I blush furiously as I try to come up with a response, but nothing comes out.

Clark groans and facepalms. "Should've seen that one coming," his communicator goes off. "This is Superman."

"_The meeting's starting in thirty minutes. Get ready,"_ Bruce responds before ending the call.

Clark turns to Lois. "Meeting at the Watchtower in thirty, you know how Bruce can get."

She nods and pulls him into a quick kiss. "I know. Have fun in your treehouse, Clark. I've gotta make sure this kid here has a good first date."

Clark smiles before speeding out and coming back in his Superman suit. He then turns to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "You've got this," he then activates his comm. "This is Superman, ready to teleport," he's then taken to the Watchtower.

Lois grabs me by my shoulders and leads me out of the room to the bathroom. She then reaches in a drawer and grabs some things to cut hair with, and some hair gel. "Uh, you sure those will work on me? My hair's kinda…" To demonstrate, I pull out a strand of hair, straighten it, and throw it at the wall, half of it sticks out.

Lois sighs. "Well, now we need to paint over that. Trust me, Clark had these made specifically to deal with hair like his, which leads to a question I've been wondering about for a while: how is your hair invincible?"

"I, uh, don't know, actually," I answer as Lois gets ready to cut my hair. "Never really questioned it, you know?"

"Hm, I see your point. So, how are we doing this?" Lois wonders. "Wait, I have an idea."

"I don't get to input any ide- oh, you're already cutting. Okay," I sit down, my hands patting my thighs as Lois mumbles to herself while getting on with the haircut. "How do you know how to cut hair, by the way?"

"When my sister Lucy needed haircuts, I'd be the one to do it when we couldn't get to a salon," Lois answers.

I hum in response before the two of us become silent again.

After this I need to buy the flowers, blue hyacinths in particular, and then take a shower and get ready. I should also get my homework done, I'll do that before I get the flowers, won't be too hard.

"How does she make you feel?" Lois suddenly asks. At my confused face she elaborates. "Donna, I mean. What kind of emotions go through you when you think about her?"

"I…" Fear, uncertainty, euphoria, and joy. Those are _some _of the emotions I feel when I think about her, and then they're amplified when I'm with her. Oh, man, I'm not in love already, am I?

Lois chuckles as she uses the scissors, whoa, she's almost done. That was fast.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. I was the same with Clark. I didn't know how to explain it, but I just knew something special was gonna come out of our relationship," she smiles fondly. "And would you look at that, two awesome boys to care for, an amazing home, and a super husband. I'd say I won."

"I'd say so," then what she said kicks in. "Wait, "two awesome boys"?"

"Yes sir, two awesome boys," she affirms. "All right, you're done! What do you think?"

I stand up and look at my reflection to see my hair's now much shorter, it leads into a nice faux hawk, the lone strand of hair staying just above my right eye. I smile and turn to Lois. "I like it," I then use my telekinesis and get rid of all the hair in the bathroom. "Now I just gotta finish my homework and get the flowers."

I take a little time on my homework. If I finish it superfast, I'd just begin to feel the time weighing down on me. After that's done, I head to the flower store, get the hyacinths, and come back. Okay, looks like she'll be here in about an hour, ample time for me to talk a long, calming shower.

While in the shower, I begin to freak out. What if I say too much? What if I say too little? What if I'm too boring? I mean, I'm not the most excitable guy, then again, with the way I grew up it'd be pretty hard for me to have a personality like Wally's. Oh man, what if Donna gets too bored of me and decides this was a mistake? Crap, crap, crap!

There's a knock on the bathroom door. "Daichi! You okay? It's nearly been an hour since you hoped in."

AN HOUR!?

I quickly turn off the shower, dry off, and put on my tank top and briefs. I open the door partially and stick my head out, making eye contact with an amused Lois. "I-is Donna here?"

"She's in the living room," Lois answers, my heartrate skyrockets. "She looks great, don't wanna keep her waiting, do you?"

I speed over to my room and quickly put on my clothes, I then go back to the bathroom and use a miniscule amount of hair gel to fix my hair. I brush my teeth and get cleaned up before heading over to the living room. And holy crap, Donna doesn't look great, she looks wonderful.

She wears black pumps, light blue skinny jeans, and a dark blue blouse with an ornate silver necklace around her neck, she wears a black leather jacket over it all. She has on ruby red lipstick and some eyeshadow that makes her ocean blue eyes seemingly shine. She has a dazzling smile on her face once she notices me.

"Daichi!" She brings me into a hug and kisses my cheek. "You look handsome!" She then ruffles my hair. "Mm, and you got a haircut just for me? You shouldn't have!"

"Oh, no problem, really. And, uh, you too," I flinch at my stupidity. "I mean, you look beautiful! Not handsome! Sorry."

Donna just smiles before noticing the flowers in my hands. "Hera, you got me hyacinths?" She gasps. I hand the flowers to her, enjoying the smile on her face. "Thank you. These are my favorites! How'd you know?"

"Diana told me," I answer. "You, uh, ready to go?"

"Hold it!" We look to see Lois holding Jon in one arm and a camera in the other. "Picture."

"I don't-"

"Come on, Dai," Donna interrupts. "It's our first date. We've gotta have something to remember it by, right?"

I smile before I wrap my arms around her waist and rest my head atop hers, the two of us smile as Lois aims the camera at us. "And three, two, one!" The camera flashes and Lois has a large smile. "I'll get these printed for you guys. Have fun!"

Donna quickly puts the flowers in a nearby vase. "I didn't bring a car, and as much as I love hyacinths, I'd rather not carry them around."

The two of us then exit the house and head over to the movie theatre.

I really hope I don't mess this up.

* * *

I don't think I messed it up. If Donna's laughter is any indication.

"I can't believe you threw Lobo into space elephant dung and lived!" She breaks out into another fit of laughter.

The movie was one of those forgettable action-comedy flicks that's great in the moment, nothing much to it. Now we're at the restaurant and our waiter just went to the kitchen to tell the cooks our order.

Right now, we're sitting in a balcony area that's rather expensive to get to, but when your close to two of the Daily Planet's top reporters, money isn't as hard to come by. That and Donna has a ton of money, both from being a princess and living with Bruce Wayne.

I chuckle and rub the back of my head, it's gonna take some time to get used to the haircut. "Yeah, I think the only reason he didn't kill me was because the Evolutionary was willing to give him new, top of the line weapons."

"From what little I've seen of him, I'm a hundred percent sure that'd be enough to pay him over," Donna says. She then rests her head in her hands. "Who is the Evolutionary? I've heard of him a few times from Bruce, Diana, and Dick, but all I know is that he's tied to you."

Our waiter comes back with our food and drinks. Once he leaves, I continue the conversation. "He's my…creator."

"That's it? Nothing more?" Donna asks as she eats her food.

"That's it. The fifteen years I spent up in space weren't the greatest. Yes, I was trained to be the best, but it was intense. I'd fight people magnitudes stronger than me at the time just to test my abilities, I'd have my energy drained just before getting thrown into a tundra or desert with almost nothing to help me survive, and I'd even have my healing factor pushed to its limits," I look down at my hands on the table. "That last one was the worst."

Donna puts her hands over mine, I look up to see a concerned look on her face. "I'm sorry for brining that up."

I shake my head and give her a smile. "It's nothing, really. Besides, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have met you guys. I wouldn't be here, with you."

"No, you wouldn't," Donna agrees with a smile. She then nods. "Okay! From here on out I'll test you! But in the right way—if it becomes too much, you'll tell me, okay?"

I tilt my head and look at Donna confused. "How?"

"I'll test your fighting skills, your mental fortitude, and your powers. But in a more humane way. But not only that, I'll test your skills with people, don't think I'm not aware of your tactics to stay hidden," she answers. "I'll help you, and you'll help me."

"But don't you already do that?" I ask.

She nods. "Yeah, I do, but this time it'll be different," she puts her hand over mine again. "This time I'll be your girlfriend."

I smile and flip my hand over so she can hold it. "Yeah, you will," I then think back to the sleepover. "Hey, back at the sleepover you wanted to talk about something. What was it?"

Her smile's replaced with a concerned frown. "Last Friday I noticed Roy seemed a little, I don't know, angry. He stayed angry during the weekend. It was all aimed at you, why?"

Okay, she wants to talk about that, I think I can do it. "I think it's because of us," at Donna's confused face I continue. "He has a crush on you. A massive one. And he's had it for some time, he's most likely angry with me 'cause I just came in and asked you out successfully after knowing you for a little over a month."

Donna's quiet for a moment as dessert is put down in front of us. "Oh," she finally whispers.

I sigh deeply before running my other hand through my hair. Gonna take some time to get used to that. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up, now I just ruined the atmosphere."

Donna shakes her head. "No, no you didn't. I should've seen it is all. He hasn't caused problems for you, has he?"

"Nope, things are just tense between us is all. I hope he'll be professional on missions," I answer.

"As do I," she then smiles and digs into her dessert. "That's enough of that! We have a date, and I'm here to enjoy it!"

I smile and begin to eat my dessert as well. "So am I."

* * *

Sometime later, Donna and I find ourselves at Centennial Park, walking hand-in-hand as the leaves fall, the wind blows through, and the sunset adds to the romantic feel. It's great, really.

Donna's smile never leaves her face as she spins around, still holding my hand. "It's amazing, really, seeing the love for the heroes," Donna laughs as we see the Superman statue in the distance. "Washington DC has a statue for my sister, there's talks of building a Batman statue in Gotham."

"Is he okay with that?" I ask.

Donna looks at me with a knowing smirk. "Of course not. As I was saying, there's the statue of the Lantern in Coast City, Manhunter and Aquaman have statues in Middleton and Amnesty Bay respectively, and Flash even has a museum. Definitely more than any other superhero."

"He deserves it," I reply. "You hear they're gonna expand the League?"

Donna nods. "When you live with two of the founders, particularly two thirds of the Trinity, you know a lot about the Justice League's plans. Don't two of the recruits have protégés?"

"Yeah, Clark told me Zatara's daughter and the Atom's protégé are gonna join," I answer. "I wonder what they're like," of course I know, just gotta play the part, you know.

"I hear the Atom's student is a girl, I like that, can never have enough sisters on the team," Donna says as we walk past two people reading Daily Planet newspapers on a bench.

I hum. "I'll need to think of some tactics to implement them in. And some new ones as well…" I continue to mumble my plans, not at all noticing Donna's smiling face as she looks at me.

"Daichi!" That catches my attention. She shakes her head in amusement. "Even on a date you can't not be tactical. I'm gonna have my work cut out for me."

"You're serious about this," I point out as Donna walks along a small barrier between the stone path and the grass of the park.

"Of course I am. No matter how much you try to downplay it, I can see you're lost and uncomfortable around people you don't know, I want to help you get over it. Being your girlfriend just gives me more ideas is all," she adds with a smirk.

"Oh? What kind of ideas?" I wonder as she hops down next to me.

"Romantic ones," she answers, causing me to blush. "I'll admit, I'm not the best at romance either, there've only been two boys before you, and they didn't last very long, but I know you and I can go places."

I feel a smile on my face, but then I look at Donna curiously. "Who were they?"

She looks at me with an arched brow before it becomes a sheepish smile. "I'll be honest, the first guy? I don't really remember his name. We talked a lot, and the only time we hung out was when his friends were also there, never went on one-on-one dates, but he was the first guy I talked to in a "romantic" sense, so there's that."

"And the second?"

Donna's silent for a moment. She avoids eye contact and looks around the park, the two of us stop at the foot of the Superman statue. She looks up at it, sighs, before grabbing both of my hands and looking me in the eyes.

"He was something else. We were close a year ago, before he moved. He was a few years older than me as well, I think he's in college now, actually," Donna finally answers.

"What's his name?" I ask. "If he was "something else" you have to remember it, right?"

She nods. "Terry Long."

Oh.

It's weird. Yeah, Roy's more dangerous then Terry, but Roy wasn't the one to marry Donna way back when in the comics, Terry Long was. I don't know why, but I feel…threatened, I guess?

Donna catches my attention by putting a hand on my chest, I look to see a light smile on her face. "Are you jealous?"

"No!" I said that way too fast. "Just curious is all."

Donna's obviously not convinced. "Uh-huh."

I press my lips into a thin line and look down. "If he didn't move away, where would the two of you be?"

Donna looks down and muses over the question. "He might've been my first boyfriend," I feel my heart skip a beat. "But if I had still met you, I probably would've broken things off with him."

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking at her.

Donna looks back at me, her ocean blue eyes connecting with my vibrant orange eyes. "With Terry I felt feelings that I couldn't properly describe, but if I had to describe them, then I'd say he made me feel great, happy," her other hand comes around the back of my head, grabbing my hair. "But you multiply those feelings by, like, a hundred thousand times. I don't know what it is exactly, but I'd like to explore these feelings with you."

I bring my arms around her waist, pulling her in. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the flame at the foot of the Superman statue, the gust of wind that whips Donna's wavy hair around in a way that makes her even more enticing, and the sunset behind the statue, turning the sky into a beautiful shade of pink, red, and purple.

Donna and I bring our faces just inches apart. "What do you say?" I can feel her breath on my skin, and thanks to my superhuman senses it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and brings goosebumps along my arms. "Let's explore this new world together?"

"Yeah, let's do it," I reply before we bring our lips together.

Nothing else matters right now, just me and Donna, and I'm totally fine with that.

We would continue to kiss but the two people on the bench forces us to break apart, don't wanna bring too much attention to ourselves by kissing far longer than humanly possible, you know?

Donna smiles widely before leaning forward, using me as a support. "Definitely prefer kissing guys over girls."

I arch a brow.

"Dai, I grew up on an island of women, you should've seen this coming," she smirks.

I let out a laugh before pulling her into a quick kiss. "Yeah, guess I should've," I rest my forehead on hers and the two of us close our eyes, enjoying the moment. "So, how was the date?"

I feel Donna smile. "Solid eleven out of ten. Would definitely do it again."

I open my eyes and look at Donna in a new light. We aren't just friends anymore, or people that are dating, I guess now we're officially lovers. It feels great.

Donna chuckles and boops my nose again. "There's that smile again. It suits you," she then backs up, one of her hands still holding mine. "Let's get you home, yeah? I promised Helena I'd help her prank Dick, and it's getting pretty late in Gotham."

I let out a laugh and follow Donna out of the park. We then walk past the two people reading newspapers, and Donna suddenly stops and looks at them with an annoyed frown.

"Donna?" I ask.

"I can't believe you two," she mutters. She then stands in front of the two and forces the newspapers out of their hands. "Are you serious!?"

"Whoa!" I quickly stand between her and them. "Sorry about my girlfriend, she's not normally…" I get a better look at the two. "Seriously?"

The taller one shrugs as he slowly stands up. "Oh dear, it seems we've been had," Alfred dryly says.

The smaller one smiles widely. "Daichi! Donna! How's your date?" Dick asks.

I just give him a blank stare before turning to Alfred. "Why?" I ask.

"Before the meeting, Bruce wanted us to keep an eye on your date," Dick answers quickly, Donna's Lasso of Truth around his wrist. "Donna!"

She just ignores his cry and wraps her Lasso up. "Does Diana know about this?"

Dick pales considerably. "Uh, no."

"And who's watching Helena?" Donna asks.

"K-Kory. Alfred, hel- what the!?"

The three of us look to see Alfred now at the other side of the park, getting inside of the black car he and Dick are using.

"He's fast for his age," I comment. "You should hurry. Half of me wants to hold Donna back, the other half wants to let her tear you apart. Guess which half's winning."

Dick takes my advice and bolts after Alfred, nearly ramming into the car as he reaches his goal.

Donna sighs before giving me an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. Bruce can be…overprotective."

I smile and stand close to Donna before wrapping an arm around her waist. "It's okay, did nothing to ruin today."

Donna smiles before resting her head on my shoulder.

The two of us then leave the park and head back to the apartment complex, happy with today.

* * *

The moon's high in the sky as I fly back home, a smile on my face, and some faint lipstick on my lips from yet another kiss between me and Donna. I let out a chuckle before barrel rolling through the clouds, the light of the moon adding to my mood.

"HELL YEAH!" I whoop as I quickly fly in a loop, a trail of orange energy creating a circle.

Today is a great day for Daichi Akiyama.

* * *

**And that's the end of the chapter, and the official start to Daichi's and Donna's relationship! **

**It's funny, the last chapter was supposed to jump ahead to December of 2010 to introduce the main villains, but I wrote so much that I decided it'd be this chapter, then that didn't happen, sorry about that. Next chapter will open at that time and introduce Zatanna and Bumblebee to the story, 'cause it's pretty damn obvious who Atom's protégé is. **

**It's gonna be interesting writing Zatanna, mainly 'cause in my other story **_**Triumphant**_**, which is a Justice League/ Ben 10 crossover, she's the main love interest. It'll be interesting to write, nonetheless. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people! **


	9. Five Drops of Blood

**Finally getting to the combat! Like the previous arc, the fighting will be four chapters, something I realized when finishing the last chapter, which also means this arc's gonna be six chapters long, this chapter being the halfway point. **

**Sorry about not posting two weeks ago! It just completely slipped my mind honestly. But hey, here we are with the next chapter! And on Halloween! If you're going out ('Cause c'mon, some people are) please stay safe and try not to move in too big of groups. Also, please don't go to a party. We all want this thing to be over with, going to a party will just prolong it, so don't be that asshole, yeah? **

**While writing this and **_**Triumphant**_** I realized something important about **_**A Sinister Past:**_** I didn't have an end goal in mind. But now I do. I'm pretty sure that's part of the reason why writing that story got so hard for me, I didn't have an ending in mind. But with one now, my motivation to write that story has come back. But first, the overhaul's gotta be complete. By now (10/31/2020), the first arc's been completely edited, whilst the second's most of the way through. **

**Right now, though, the plan's to mainly update this and **_**Triumphant**_**. I'll still work on **_**ASP**_**, but it'll take some time until it's updated most likely.**

**Now, to reply to some reviews!**

**AlexFalTon: **Yeah, _no one_ likes Terry Long, but because he's so important to Donna's story pre-Flashpoint I feel like I had to bring him up in some way. Though, it won't be the only time he's mentioned… And yeah, Elongated Man isn't that popular. Pretty sure _The Flash_ TV series is how he got more popular. It's funny though, by the time I brought him into the story, Hartley Sawyer (the actor) got kicked off the show. Hm. Anyways, I learned about Blue Devil and Icon 'cause of _Young Justice_, and Fire and Ice because of _Justice League Unlimited._ But to be completely honest, other than some lines here and there, they won't be that important to this story.

**Jmasta32: **Well, thank you! It's always a boost of confidence when someone tells me they love the story, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And yeah, gods, I have plans for the Olympians and the New Gods, though they won't appear en masse until later. Though a few will appear here and there.

And for the Endless, I'm not sure. The most I've read of them was Dream during the first Dark Knights event, back when the Batman Who Laughs was a new, cool idea, and not the overused cash cow he is now. I'll learn more about them later, but mainly for my other DC story, _Triumphant's_ sequel. You should check it out, I think you'll like that one too!

**Well, that's all from me, on with the story!**

**P.S. Weird, it seemed like this chapter wasn't posted earlier today, so I deleted it, let's hope this repost works. **

* * *

**Five Drops of Blood **

It's been a few months since my first date with Donna, it's December now, actually, and Christmas break's about to start, once this last class ends. As we play dodgeball (again. I don't think our P.E. teacher really knows how to teach), Donna catches my attention.

We've gone on a few more dates throughout the months, getting closer each time, and she's also sure to test me. Sometimes she'd attack me out of nowhere, other times we'd play intense games of chess, and every now and again she'd force me into a position that makes me uncomfortable, but in the end, I grow from it. It's great.

But of course, the others notice this and begin to tease us relentlessly. Donna takes it like a champ and practically announces to the world she's happy we're dating. I'm a little more subdued. But of course, Roy doesn't take kindly to this news. The relationship between the three of us has soured pretty badly, even Zatanna and Karen have noticed it, and they've been on the team for a shorter time then us.

A dodgeball collides with my chest. The teacher blows his whistle. "You're out, Akiyama!"

I groan before heading over to the bleachers, here I find a smirking Karen. "Distracted by your lady?"

Karen's a sixteen-year-old African American girl with black, wavy hair and deep brown eyes. When she's standing up, she's rather short, but she more than makes up for it with her giant personality. She's wearing the mandatory clothes for P.E., which shows off her built form, from being the captain of the cheerleaders called the Bumblebees _and _being Bumblebee, the superhero.

I sit down next to her and smile as I watch Donna play. "Yeah."

Karen chuckles before slapping my shoulder. "Man, you are really in it, aren't you?"

"Huh? "It"?" I ask.

Karen rolls her eyes. "Love," she holds up a finger when I sputter. "I get it. When you find the one, you find the one."

"Yeah, you do," I agree. "But it's too early to tell. So, how're you enjoying being a Teen Titan so far?"

Karen smirks. "Freaking awesome. Just hate that I had no idea most of you were Teen Titans, especially Kory."

"Yeah, I can see why," I agree with a nod.

"How do you guys hide your identities anyway?" Karen asks. "I mean, you don't have any masks or anything like me, Lilith, or Roy."

"I vibrate my face and vocal cords in such a way you couldn't match me and Apex together. I also change my stance; you'd be amazed at how effective that is. Kory does the same, her special contacts also help. Wonder Woman made sure a sort of glamour spell was cast on Donna, like how Zee does it. Garth does the same," I answer.

"Donna knows magic?" Karen asks.

I shake my head. "No, there are some Amazonian mages though, they did it."

Speaking of Donna, she ends the game by throwing a dodgeball into one Mal Duncan's gut, ending the game, and getting a win for our team.

Donna walks over to us with a smile on her face as the other students head to the locker rooms to change. "So? How would you rate that?"

"Ten out of ten," I answer without hesitation. I then stand up and pull Donna into a kiss.

Karen slaps my back before heading towards the girl's locker room. "I'm gonna go get changed. Don't wanna walk in the snow with these clothes, you know?"

I get up and stand next to Donna. "I'm gonna get changed too, see you in a bit."

As I change, I notice some of the people to my right moving out of the way for someone, looking up, I see Jackson and Things 1 and 2 marching towards me. Lovely. Ever since Donna and I became official he's been targeting me, but he's never got the chance to go through with anything, guess now he feels like he can.

I put on my jacket and look eye-to-eye with an angry Jackson. "Yes?" I ask.

"Break up with Donna. Or else," he threatens. Things 1 and 2 crack their knuckles to add to the intimidation factor, it doesn't help.

"Why should I?" I ask as I tilt my head curiously.

Jackson glares and gets in my face, sandwiching me between him and the lockers behind me. "Or else I'll kick your ass. Donna doesn't need to be with a nerdass like you."

I arch my eyebrows. "Ah, so she'll do better with you?" Jackson nods with a smug smile on his face. "I don't think so."

He grabs me by the collar of my shirt and raises his other fist up, ready to punch me in the face. "And what makes you so damn sure!?"

I just keep my calm demeanor as I notice some of the other kids pull out their phones and record. One left the locker room, probably gonna tell the teacher what's going on.

"Jackson, you struggle to keep C's, you're at the office every other week for breaking one rule or another, and you're a known bully. I'm surprised you're still allowed on the football and basketball teams. What I mean to say is: You'd drag Donna down if she even thought of dating you. Move on, man, it obviously isn't gonna happen," I list.

Jackson roars in rage as Things 1 and 2 grab my arms. Jackson then rears his fist back, ready to punch me. Once the fist nears, I duck, causing Jackson to slam his fist into the locker behind me. He screams in pain and shakes his fist as a cracking sound can be heard from the impact. Ooh, that sounded like it hurt.

Thing 1 grabs my head and holds it in place as Jackson goes for another punch, this time with his other hand.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?"

We look to see the P.E. teacher marching into the locker room, glaring at the four of us.

Things 1 and 2 quickly let go of my arms and point at me. "He did it!" Thing 1 shouts. "It's all his fault!"

The teacher gives him a deadpanned stare. "Yes, Daichi started this confrontation. That's why the two of you were holding him down for Jackson to punch him," he says sarcastically. "Come on, principal's office. Now."

The three of them reluctantly follow the teacher, but Thing 2 makes sure to bump his shoulder into me, it doesn't work like he hoped it would. The four of us then exit the locker room and I make eye contact with Karen and Donna, the two of them look at me concerned but I just wave it off.

"_Don't worry about it,"_ I reassure. _"They just tried to intimidate me is all."_

"_Of course they did,"_ Karen replies as she rolls her eyes.

"_We'll wait with the others,"_ Donna tells me.

The five of us then arrive at the principal's office. While the teacher and Jackson and his crew are inside, I wait on the chair next to the door. I don't listen in since they're obviously gonna try to pin the blame on me.

As I sit, I feel Lilith's presence in my mind. _"Well, would you look at who's in trouble. Honestly would've expected Garth in your position-"_

"_Hey!"_

"_-What happened?"_ Lilith asks.

"_Jackson wanted me to break up with Donna, obviously he didn't take "no" for an answer. I won't be able to stay at the Tower long, just saying,"_ I answer. Jackson and the others then leave the office, I hear the principal call me in. _"See you in a bit."_

I enter the office, the P.E. teacher standing next to the principal's desk. "So, Mr. Akiyama," the principal begins. "I take it you…hit Mr. Miller's fist with your face?" The Principal asks, a small smile on his face.

"Oh, no, the locker came to his defense and protected his fist," I reply.

"Ah, I see," his smile grows as he raises his brows. "I'll be quick, you're a good kid, you've had no problems with anyone, you've quickly risen to top of your class, and you've become more active in your extracurriculars. I'll just say this, do whatever you can to avoid Mr. Miller. You're dismissed, have a Merry Christmas, Mr. Akiyama."

I get up and nod to both of them. "Happy holidays."

I head over to my locker and surprisingly I find Garth waiting, my backpack in his hands. I use my x-ray vision to see all the books I need are in it. I look at him with an arched brow. "How'd you get in my locker?"

"Donna," he answers.

"How does Donna know my locker combo?" I wonder. "I'll have to ask," I then take my backpack from Garth and the two of us walk through the hallway, the number of students thinning. "You got your gifts ready?"

"I still gotta figure out what to get Zee and Karen, but I think I'm good," Garth answers. "You?"

"Roy's the problem," I answer, Garth nods in understanding. "I mean, I don't know what to get him, what with the whole drama going on between him, me, and Donna. But I can't avoid buying him a present, it'd be so freaking obvious why."

Garth puts his hands behind his head as we exit the school, the others—minus Roy, again—waiting nearby some of the snow-covered benches. "Man, love triangles sound so damn confusing. So glad me and Lilith aren't in one."

I sigh, the condensation catching my attention. "Yeah, lucky you."

"I heard about what happened," Donna says as she stands in front of me, a frown on her face and her arms folded. "Sorry about Jackson. I should just talk to him, so he knows nothing's ever gonna happen between us."

I just wave off her concern as we all walk towards a nearby, local fast food restaurant. "It's all cool, there was no harm done."

Donna looks at me before nodding, she puts her arm around mine while her other hand stays in her pocket. "If you say so," she then looks at Karen and Kory. "How's cheerleading practice going for you guys?"

"The Bumblebees are wrecking it as usual," Karen says proudly, Kory nods in response. "Though it is a little hard to lead the group without Kimiyo's help. What happened to her?"

Donna looks away worriedly as we continue walking. "I've kept in contact with her, but she seems to be rather sick. I mean, did you see how she was before she left?"

"Yeah, she looked about ready to drop," Karen says with a worried nod.

"She'll be fine," Lilith reassures them. "She's probably just sick is all."

Or not.

I remember when she snuck up on me, I released some energy really quick when she slapped my back. Maybe that's how she gets her powers in this universe, because of my absorbing Doctor Light's energy. But that's not all, my energy was apart of that as well, so will she have some of my powers too?

"And we're here!" Donna shouts excitedly, bringing me out of my musing. "Gods, I love this place."

"We can tell," Garth mutters to himself. "Seriously though, can't you give Daichi's wallet a break, Don? I feel bad for it."

"Thank you," I whisper.

Donna elbows me in the ribs with a smirk before turning to Garth. "If it makes you feel any better, we share the bill. The only time he pays full price for me is for my gifts. Speaking of…what'd you get me?"

I smile and reply after the six of us sit down, the smell of our orders hitting my nose. "I'm not saying a thing. And you better not use your lasso."

Donna rests her head on my shoulder and looks up at me with a smile. "Okay, but you better not use your x-ray vision on my present."

"Oh, crap! I need to lead-line mine for you," Karen remembers.

"It's tedious, isn't it?" Lilith says. "Before he came along, we didn't have to worry about someone seeing the presents we'd give, now we gotta go the extra mile. At least it's only for one present."

"Oh, yeah, not like we don't have to worry about you reading our minds," Garth says as he rolls his eyes.

"That was one time!" Lilith says before resting her head on his shoulder.

Once our food comes, we all fall silent and eat, but I notice Karen looking between me and Donna, and Garth and Lilith. Eventually, Karen groans and slams her head on the table. "Uh, you good?" I ask.

With her head still on the table, she looks up at me with a glare. "I'm single, dude."

"Yes?" Where's she going with this?

She points at me and Donna. "You guys are a couple," she points at Garth and Lilith. "You guys are a couple," she points at herself. "And I'm alone. God, this is so unfair."

"I'm single as well," Kory points out.

"Yeah, well, Dick looks ready to ask you out," Karen replies.

Kory quirks a brow. "Out? Where?"

"Forget it," Karen sighs. "But still, it suuucks."

"Well if you'd stop skirting around a certain Malcom Duncan, things might be different for you," Donna points out with a smirk.

Karen looks at Donna with narrowed eyes before her face meets the table again. She groans. "I'm trying."

Lilith reaches around Garth and puts her hands over Karen's. "If you need any help, know that we're here."

Donna smiles and points at Karen with a fry. "You can count on it. Lilith and I know a thing or two about catching the one fish in the sea we want."

Garth groans at the pun and sips his drink. "I hate you, Amazonian."

"I Love you too, Atlantean," Donna replies with a smile.

The girls then have talks about relationships, something me and Garth have no clue how to join in. He and Donna switch seats, letting the two of us sit next to each other. "So, Dungeons & Dragons?"

Right, Wally's been wanting to get a game started for some time now. I'm down for it, but the problem is, we have no idea who's gonna be the DM. I turn to Garth. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Got a character?" He asks. He stealthily goes for some of Donna's fries, but her arm shoots out and squeezes around his wrist, even without her looking. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I'm making some final adjustments. Hey, who's gonna DM? Aren't we all gonna play?" I ask.

"Oh, Zee's got that covered," Garth answers.

"All right," Donna suddenly says after Garth finishes his food. "Off to the Tower!"

Our group exits the diner and walks through the snow, a few cars driving by in this small town. It's really amazing how slow things are here, almost like Happy Harbor's in its own world. We walk into an alley and I activate my earpiece.

"This is Daichi. Me, Donna, Garth, Lilith, Kory, and Karen are ready to teleport."

"_One teleport coming right up!" _Zatanna replies.

All right, time to see what they've done with the place.

* * *

**San Francisco, California **

We arrive in Titans Tower to find Zatanna, Roy, and Wally in the living area, a massive Christmas tree in one of the corners. Along the railing to the rooms are Christmas lights that shift between red, white, and green. Along the roof we can see paper snowflakes hanging in the air.

All in all, they've made a nice festive atmosphere.

"Welcome to the Tower, friends! What do you think?" Zatanna asks with a flourish of her arms at the tree.

She's an attractive fifteen-year-old girl, I'll admit, but nothing compared to Donna in my eyes. She has long, black hair and ice blue eyes. She wears a purple sweater that looks pretty comfy and some black jeans.

Kory looks up at the tree in awe. "X'hal, it's beautiful. You do this every year?"

Lilith nods and stands next to her. "Yup. Though there are multiple celebrations had around this time, Kwanza and Hanukkah being two big examples. Christmas is great though, well, when you look at what it should be about."

"And that is?" Kory asks.

"Hanging out with your friends and family, giving gifts, and having fun," Zatanna finishes, standing on Kory's other side. "How was school for you guys?"

"Daichi got in trooouble," Lilith and Karen both say at the same time.

Zatanna turns around and looks at me with an arched brow. "Wow, _you _got in trouble? I'd expect that from Wally. Or Garth."

"Hey!" They both shout.

I shake my head with a smile. "Wasn't like that. There was this dude, Jackson, he had a problem with me."

Donna rolls her eyes. "He threatened Daichi to break up with me. As if that'd ever happen."

I can hear Roy scoff softly from his spot on the couch. Come on, Dick, hurry over here so we can get this meeting over with, I gotta go to Smallville.

Karen, Lilith, and Kory head over to the tree, probably to get a better look at it. Zatanna and Garth go over to the table in the dining area, talking about magic, leaving me and Donna in the teleporter area.

Donna grabs my hands and leads me over to the kitchen, she then leans on one of the counters, still holding me close by my hands. "You'll be in Smallville with Clark, Lois, and Jon, right?"

"Yeah, you're staying at Wayne Manor, right?" I ask, Donna nods. "How is your sister, by the way?"

Donna chuckles and swings our hands a bit. "Restless. It's been five years since her last pregnancy after all, she forgot how limiting it was when pregnant I guess."

I chuckle and nod. "Yeah, Lois is the same. Now I know how scary pregnant ladies can be, no matter their strength level."

"Oh, they can be terrifying," Donna agrees. She then looks up and deadpans after a streak runs by us. "Really, Wally?"

I look up to see a mistletoe above us. "I've heard about this. What're we supposed to do under it again?" I ask with a cheeky smirk.

Donna rolls her eyes and smirks as well. "Here, let me show you."

Her hands come up to the sides of my head and she then pulls me into a kiss. As we kiss, I feel her tongue brush against my lips, so I oblige, our kiss becoming more passionate. The two of us keep kissing until my earpiece activates, pulling my attention away.

I reluctantly pull out of the kiss, Donna whines in annoyance. "This is Apex."

"_Apex, my man! Bring me to the Tower, I'm finally out of school," _Dick says.

"Better be worth it," Donna says in annoyance.

I smile and peck her lips one more time before heading to the teleporters. "Dick's on his way," I announce loudly. I then activate the teleporter and the Boy Wonder appears shortly after. The two of us do our handshake as he steps off of it. "Hey man."

"What's up?" He looks to see Donna glaring at him. "Oh, did I interrupt sucky face time? C'mon, you two do it all the time, one interruption shouldn't be too much."

Donna just rolls her eyes and flicks his cheek. "Let's just get this meeting started "dear leader"."

Dick laughs before jumping around, again using me as a springboard. He then leaps through the area and lands in the seat next to Garth. "Hey."

Garth lightly punches the top of his head. "Hey."

I sit down next to Dick, Donna next to me and the others join around the table, we all look at Dick. "So, what's up for Christmas?" Wally asks.

"It'll be like Thanksgiving. We'll hang out here on Christmas Eve, exchange gifts, tell stories, and drink trash-ass eggnog!" Dick says excitedly. "Christmas day we'll be hanging out with our families and enjoying the holiday!"

Zatanna rests her head in her hand. "Y'know, this easily could've been told through the group chat."

"Yeah, it could've. But are you really gonna complain about hanging out with your friends before we separate for the break?" Dick asks.

"No, no I will not. So, what're we gonna do now?" Zatanna asks.

My phone vibrates. I pull it out to see a message from Clark.

**Clark: **We're ready to go, just waiting on you.

**Me:** Got it.

I put my phone away and look at the others. "Hate to say it, but I gotta go, Clark and Lois really want me to drive with them to Smallville."

"Ew, driving," Wally says. "Why can't you guys teleport there?"

"Because Lois is pregnant, remember?" I point out.

"Oh. Right," Wally realizes. "Let me teleport you home."

I get up and kiss Donna one more time. "See you guys in a bit."

I then head over to the teleporter, Wally already waiting there, a rare serious look on his face. He looks over towards the others before looking back at me. "Look, dude, I'm happy for you and Donna, really, but…"

I sigh and rest my hands on my hips. "But you're worried about Roy, I get it. He's not making it easy; you know. I get that he has feelings for her, but he needs to move on. I mean, on our last mission he nearly got killed because he wouldn't accept my help."

Batman had us sent out to deal with Intergang trying to smuggle some weapons from here to Mexico. We hit the warehouse, which led to a firefight breaking out, Roy was pinned down and Dick wanted me to go and pull him out of the fire, but when flying away he fought the entire time, getting a bullet to the arm as a result. That's when everyone started to see the problem between me and him.

Wally sighs. "Yeah, I know. And if this keeps up someone's gonna get hurt really bad, maybe even killed. You need to talk to him."

"You think I haven't tried? I get more stimulating replies from a brick wall," I rub the back of my head. "Damn, he wasn't this bad before I started dating Donna."

Wally runs his hand through his hair. "No he was not. We can talk about this later, have fun in Smallville."

"Tell Barry, Iris, and your parents hi for me?" I ask as I step on the pad.

"And the twins?"

I let out a chuckle and nod. "And the twins."

"And Jay and Joan?"

I groan. "Yes, Wally. Just tell everyone there who knows my identity, all right?"

"Do the same with the Kents?" Wally asks.

I nod. "See you later."

And with that, I'm teleported away from Titans Tower, but before I leave, I notice Roy glaring at me from behind the fridge.

This is gonna be problematic.

* * *

**On the road **

I yawn as Lois and Clark sing along with the radio. Jon also swings his arms around and lets out noises that sound vaguely like the song playing.

Clark looks at me with the rearview mirror. "Come on, Dai, sing along!"

"I don't sing," I reply as I text Lilith.

**Me: **They're singing songs. What do I do?

**Lilith: **Sing along? Put in your earbuds and listen to your own music?

**Me:** Lois took my earbuds.

I wait a few minutes, but I get no reply. Strange, Lilith's pretty quick at replying. Hm, maybe Wally stole her phone again or something, no reason to freak out.

Lois' hand takes my phone. "Family road trip, kiddo. That includes you," then mentally. _"If I have to do this, so do you."_

Jon's Green Lantern Alan Scott action figure hits me in the side of the face. "Toy!" The nearly three-year-old hybrid cries out, his arms flailing about.

I grab it telekinetically and hand it to him. "Here you go, little man."

The song ends (finally), so Lois turns her head to look at me. "First Christmas with Donna, you excited?"

I feel a smile on my face and blush lightly as I look down. "Very. I just hope she likes my gift."

"What is it?" She asks.

"Not gonna say," I shrug with a smirk.

Lois pouts and looks ahead, folding her arms in indignation. "Rude," she then notices a fast food restaurant in the distance. "Smallville, I'm hungry."

"But we just-" Clark sighs. "Okay, yeah, let's go. But drive thru, I really don't wanna extend an eighteen-hour drive."

"That makes two of us," I agree. "Can I get some chicken nuggets? Haven't had those in a while. And some Dr. Pepper, too."

"Or we could just add some fries and make it a meal," Lois suggests as she pulls out a book and starts reading.

"We could," I agree.

We wait in line for some time, Lois gets annoyed and looks up from her book to see the line of cars has yet to move. "What the hell? Why's it taking so long?"

"Put the money in the bag!" I hear from inside the restaurant.

Clark turns to look at me. "You heard that too?"

"Why someone would rob a fast food place, I will never know. Let's take 'em down," I grin.

Clark grins and the two of us speed out of the car and into the lobby of the place. Inside we find three people holding the place up, one at the counter, another at the main doors, and the third holding the citizens hostage.

The one aiming a gun at the cashier is the first to recover. "Oh, shit."

Superman looks out in the parking lot before turning to me. "Apex, there's one waiting in a getaway car. Deal with him?"

I nod and speed out through the front doors, knocking out the guy keeping watch as I go. I phase through the car and sit in shotgun as the guy in the getaway car freaks out and looks at the restaurant, not at all noticing my presence.

"Guys? Guys! Tell me I'm just freakin' out! I did _not _just see Apex and freakin' Superman come in! Guys?" He shouts as he panics.

"They're not gonna answer," I reply.

The guy freaks out and drops his phone. He fumbles with his gun and eventually aims it at me, his hands shaking violently.

When looking at him I see pure fear and terror in his eyes, so I decide to play it cool. I reach out and gently take the gun out of his hands. "Look, man, you're obviously scared, thankfully you aren't letting that fear control you. Here's what's going to happen: you're going to willingly surrender yourself to the cops, you're gonna do your time, and then you're gonna come out of it a better man. Okay?"

The driver looks at me before nodding shakily. "Okay. Okay."

I smile and lightly punch his shoulder. "Look at you, first step to redemption already taken! Happy Holidays!"

Superman comes out with the other three criminals knocked out in his arms, he looks as the driver gets out of the car, takes off his mask, and sits down next to the car, pulling out his phone and calling the cops.

Superman then looks at me and smiles. "You did good, Apex."

I smile bashfully. "Thanks. But I guess we have to eat somewhere else, huh?"

"No! Wait!"

We look to see the manager running outside, waving his arms excitedly, his phone in one hand. "We would be honored if you ate here. Please."

Superman and I look at each other. He then rubs the back of his neck and has an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but we're on a schedule," he quickly raises his hands at the manager's despondent face. "But we can order some food here at least! Right, Apex?"

"Yeah, sure," I reply.

It takes some time, what with us having to wait for the cops to come, the food to get cooked, and the countless pictures and autographs we've done. Eventually we're back on the road, and thanks to my energy powers I'm able to atomize the trash completely. It's amazing what mundane actions you can complete with superpowers.

Right now, it's late at night, and Lois and Jon have fallen asleep, leaving me and Clark awake to have conversations about whatever. Things with the Justice League or Teen Titans, my training with Wildcat, and of course, my relationship with Donna.

"Hey, uh, Daichi?" Clark asks after a period of silence.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Oliver's been wondering about something," Clark says. I mentally groan. This can only end one way. "Did something happen between you and Roy?"

I groan out loud and lean my head back. "What'd Oliver say?"

Clark hums. "Just that he once caught Roy mumbling a whole bunch of things against you. Something about you stealing something from him?"

I feel a little bit of anger at that. "Dammit, Roy," I whisper. "First off, Donna isn't a "thing" I stole from him. I asked her out and she said yes, he was too slow."

Clark nods. "Ah, so it's a relationship thing."

"There's more to it then that, but yeah, that's the main idea," I say. "He's mad that I've got second-in-command, that I'm suddenly extremely popular (even though I don't want to be), and that I've been to the Watchtower."

"Jealousy," Clark says. "That's it. I've worked with him a few times, but honestly, you know him better than I do. But what I do know is that he has bouts of insecurity at times."

"Seriously? He's one of the most confident guys I know," I reply.

"It's a show. Think about it, he's on a team with a speedster, and Amazonian, an Atlantean, a Tamaranean, a girl who can shrink and shoot energy blasts, a girl who can alter reality by speaking backwards, a girl with powerful mental abilities, one of the most skilled acrobats, and you, the peak of human evolution. Anyone's bound to have self-esteem issues," Clark says.

"What about Dick? He doesn't have any powers and he's our leader," I point out.

"There's that, he's your leader, Roy isn't in a position like you or Dick. I mean, some people still think Wally is Speedy. You can see his side, right?" Clark asks.

"Yeah, I guess. I just- he needs to accept these things, otherwise someone could get killed," I sigh and look at Jon's sleeping form. Kid's lucky, he doesn't have to worry about love triangles or teammates hellbent on making your life suck. "I'll talk to him, even if he doesn't want to."

Clark smiles widely. "That's what a K-" He stops speaking suddenly.

"What?" I ask, my eyes narrowed.

"Nothing. Nothing for you to worry about," Clark says.

I'm not convinced, but whatever, this'll definitely come back later, and with the way he's trying to fight down a smile I can say it's gonna be a good surprise, so I'll let it slide. "All right, whatever. Good night."

"Good night, Dai," Clark replies.

I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

It's the nightmares again.

* * *

**Smallville, Kansas**

"Daichi, wake up."

My eyes snap open, I look to see Lois shaking me gently, careful not to lean too far due to her growing stomach. "We're here," she says with a smile.

I groan and get out of the car; I notice Jon's car seat is currently in Clark's arm. Clark takes in a deep breath with a large smile. "Ma! Pa! We're here!"

Almost immediately, two people, I'd guess in their early to mid-fifties, come out of the front door. They both have brown hair, but their hair's obviously greying. The man's rather tall, and he obviously shows signs of once being a well-built man. The woman's of average height and she has a kind smile on her face, as does her husband.

"Clark! Lois!" The woman comes over and hugs the two, after she hugs Lois, she places a hand on her stomach. "Do you know the gender yet?"

Lois nods with a large smile. "A girl. Finally too, I've had enough living in a house full of boys."

The woman laughs. "I know how that feels. I blame Jonathan and Clark for my gray hairs."

"I resent that!" The man says jokingly. He then pulls Lois into a hug. "How are ya?"

"I'm good, Pa, thanks," she then turns and looks at me, bringing their attention to me. "Jonathan, Martha, meet Daichi. He's also Apex."

"Hi," I walk forward and have my hand out.

Instead, Jonathan grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug. "Nice to meet you!"

"Uh…" I slowly reciprocate the hug. "Same here."

Jonathan then backs up, and Martha pulls me into a hug really quick before backing up and looking me over, a worried frown on her face. "Clark! Do you even feed the boy? He's as thin as a stick!"

"Well, he doesn't _need _to eat, Ma," that was the wrong thing for him to say.

Martha gasps and slaps Clark's arm. "I didn't raise you to not feed family now, did I!?"

I stand in between them. "It's fine, it's fine! Really. He's right, anyway, I don't need to eat anything," I create a ball of energy. "My energy's more than capable keeping me sustained for quite some time."

"Doesn't matter. Come, let's feed you," Martha says, determined in her ways completely.

I look at the others as she drags me away, they just shrug before Clark and Jonathan go to get the luggage, Lois follows with Jon's car seat in her arm.

Well, first impressions are going well. Let's hope it keeps up.

* * *

**Unknown location**

Baran huffs and rests his hands on his knees as the test continues.

Around him he notices his sister dodging attacks from robotic tentacles. That little gremlin, what was his name…? Gizmo, right. Apparently, he's a legacy villain, his dad being the first Gizmo, Baran doesn't care. Then there's that pink-haired girl, Jinx, she's getting spun around while trying to fight a whole bunch of those cultists. And then there's Billy Numerous. Baran doesn't like him, he's annoying. Numerous is currently dodging blades, guns, and other attacks, using clones to protect himself.

The giant robot marches towards Baran's tired form, its size creating a shadow over the massive metahuman. Baran groans before getting up, raising his fists and growling. "Come on, scrapheap, I'm gonna kick your ass."

The robot rears its fist back, Baran gets ready to fight, but suddenly it stops, as does everything else. Gizmo's box opens up as well, freeing the gremlin. Selinda walks over to her brother and rests her arm on his massive form. "I think he's tryin' to kill us, bro."

"Probably," Baran rumbles.

"Trust me, Flinders, if I wanted you dead, you would be."

The five look up to see a man, in his late thirties to early forties, slow clapping as he enters the room. He's tall, standing a little over six feet tall and is well built. He wears a red chest plate with golden designs along it, and he wears tight blue pants and a tight blue shirt under the armor. He has black bracers on his arms and a black belt that drapes down next to his knees from the sides, they also have gold outlines. His hair's a pale white and he has blood red eyes. This, is Sebastian Blood, otherwise known as Brother Blood IX.

"What's up with all this training?" Gizmo whines. "I don't even need it; you see how smart I am?"

"If your so smart why couldn't you get outta the box?" Baran taunts.

Gizmo grits his teeth and uses his jetpack to fly up to eye level with Baran. "I'd like to see you hack your way through that box. Oh, wait, you can't, 'cause your brain's about as big as my fist."

Baran grits his teeth and gets ready to crush Gizmo in his far more massive fist, but Brother Blood puts a stop to that. "Now, now, boys. We're all here for a common reason, and I _won't _have any infighting," his eyes flare red for a moment, forcing the two to back down. "Good, tell me, how do you feel about your training?"

Billy Numerous bounces on his feet. "I mean, it's workin', but why're we doin' this again?"

Blood smirks. "If you want to defeat the Teen Titans you need to be better," he then looks at the siblings. "Take Baran and Selinda, for example, they had the help of a living nuclear reactor, one of the most dangerous telepaths, and a bumbling fool with an incredible power source. And yet, they were all defeated."

Baran growls, but Selinda puts a hand on his arm, calming him down. "We know about our track record, Blood, no need to tell us."

"Oh, but I must," Blood counters with a smile. "You _need _to remember your loss, after all, what else will motivate you?"

"A reward would be nice," Jinx mutters.

Brother Blood looks at her, the smile on his face unnerves the girl. "Ah! Perfect idea, Jinx!" He begins to pace, a hand on his chin as he walks back and forth. "But what to give, what to give…" he then slams his fist into his palm. "That's it! I'll give you all the power boosts you need to defeat the Teen Titans!"

Billy and Gizmo share a glance. "Uh, what kind of power boosts?" The latter asks.

"I can make you a technopath," he then points at Billy. "And you can make more than just three clones. I'll increase your magic capabilities," he then looks at the siblings. "And your transmutation powers will be far more powerful. No more need to touch the object you wish to change, and no more needing to recognize the makeup of each element. And you, Baran, you'll be stronger, my boy, strong enough to kill even Apex!"

Baran smirks and chuckles as he cracks his knuckles. "I like the sound of that."

Blood walks towards Jinx and hands her a stone. "This is a teleportation stone; it will bring you back here as long as you say "H.I.V.E. Academy". Understood?"

Jinx nods. "Yeah. Why're you giving this to me?"

Blood walks out of the room, directing the five to follow him. He's silent the entire way, but eventually they arrive in a hangar, and the five are surprised to see a yellow and black jet waiting. "Before I give you these gifts of power, you must prove yourselves. The Teen Titans have a tower off the coast of San Francisco, attack it. If you are arrested, that's it. But if you come back…"

That's all Baran needs. He walks past the group and heads towards the jet, Selinda following close behind. Billy and Jinx share a glance before shrugging and follow the two, leaving Gizmo with Brother Blood.

"Why'd you pick us?" Gizmo asks.

Brother Blood hums before replying. "Billy's powers, while not effective now, can easily give you the numbers advantage. Your technological skills are incredibly useful, especially against the likes of Robin and Speedy. Selinda's powers can be dangerous, if used in the right way, and Baran's physical strength is capable of matching Apex or Wonder Girl, but not at the same time."

"And if he comes back, he can take 'em on," Gizmo guesses.

"Oh, he can do more than that," Brother Blood turns around and heads towards the elevator. "Don't disappoint me Gizmo and I'll let you keep the jet."

Gizmo's eyes light up, the possibilities of the weapons he can add to it quickly flying through his mind.

"OI! GET OVER HERE!" Baran's voice booms from the jet.

Gizmo hurriedly activates his jetpack and flies towards the jet, a large smile on his face. _'Oh, the Teen Titans are _so _screwed.'_

* * *

**Titans Tower**

Wally comes back to the table after some time at the teleporters. "What took you so long? Kissing Daichi goodbye?" Dick jokes.

Wally laughs and rests his feet on the table, leaning back in his chair, and resting his hands behind his head. "Yeah, right! Donna would kill me if I did that. And I like being alive, thank you very much."

Donna glares playfully at him. "You're right, I would. Only _I_ get to kiss Daichi."

Garth shakes his head with a smile before looking at Roy out of the corner of his eye, the archer noticeably trying to keep his cool. _'I've gotta talk to him about this.'_

"_Yeah, you and everyone else,"_ Lilith replies.

Garth sighs before tossing his backpack to the table. "While I'm here, may as well get my homework done, don't wanna worry about it over the break."

"Or accidentally get it wet," Lilith jokes.

Karen lets out a laugh before putting her own bag on the table. "You know, I used to be really confused as to why your homework would sometimes be wet when you turned it in, now I know."

"It's not fun. I mean, it's mainly Andy's fault why my homework gets wet," Garth says.

"Wow, Garth, blaming the baby princess of Atlantis, who knew you'd stoop so low?" Zatanna tsks and shakes her head.

"Truly he has fallen far," Kory adds.

Everyone laughs at Garth's expense, the Atlantean Prince groaning and sinking into his chair. "Dammit, Kory, you were supposed to be the nice one."

With a huff, Roy gets up and heads towards the massive fridge, grabbing some water bottles. "I'm gonna head to the gym."

Wally leans back to look at Roy heading towards the elevator. "Again? Dude, are you trying to be our new Superman? I think Daichi's more than got that covered."

The others wince as Roy stops, takes a deep breath, and then continues to the elevator, heading towards the gym. Wally looks around at the others glaring at him once the elevator doors close. "Yeah, I take full blame for that one."

With her lasso, Donna whips it out, hitting Wally in the chest and causing him to fall over. "As you should," she then sighs and slams her head into the table, leaving a dent in it. "Sorry."

The others look at each other awkwardly. Garth just does his homework.

Eventually Dick's the first one to break the silence. "Man, love triangles are weird, right!?"

Lilith gives him a blank stare. "Subtle," she then stands up and crouches down next to her best friend, one of her hands atop the Amazonian Princess'. "You okay, Don?"

Donna groans before turning her face to look at Lilith, part of her head still in the caved in part of the table. "No."

"Let me guess, while dating Daichi is all sunshine and rainbows, the reaction of a certain archer rains on your parade. And you want to find a way to end this before anything bad could come out of it, but you don't know how," Lilith summarizes.

"Wow, it's almost like you read my mind," Donna groans and leans back in her chair, far enough that it falls over, but she stays floating, much to Wally's jealousy. "I don't like being the center of a love triangle, it's a pain. Why can't Roy just see that Daichi makes me happy and accept it? I'd bet there's a girl out there who'd love to be with him."

"Look at it this way," Karen says. "The girl he's been pining after for years suddenly says yes to another guy who's stronger, faster, smarter, and hotter than him, and she's known him for what, a month?"

"Hotter!?" Garth shouts incredulously.

Lilith just looks at him and rolls her eyes before returning her attention to Donna.

"It was more like a month and a half. But still, he needs to accept this and move on, I don't want anyone hurt because of our relationship," Donna sighs sadly and plays with the bracers on her arms.

Lilith hums before getting up and pulling out her phone. "I'm gonna text Daichi."

As Lilith goes to the couch and begins to text him, Kory speaks up. "I was in a similar position, actually."

Donna and Dick both pop their heads up and look at her, the others doing so in a calmer manner. "Seriously?" The latter asks.

Kory nods. "A few years ago, there were two princes who wanted my hand in marriage. As per Tamaranean culture they fought in a gladiator battle, the winner would become my betrothed."

"And, uh, who won?" Dick asks.

"Neither. They both killed each other," Kory then gasps and points at Donna with a smile. "Roy and Daichi should battle for your hand! Yes! I will get the arrangements ready!" She pulls out a notebook and begins to scribble down. "We'll need a location, the proper technology to broadcast the battle, weapons, a date available for everyone-"

"Kory!" Donna shouts. "We're not holding a gladiator battle for them!"

The Tamaranean princess lowers her head in dejection. "Oh. Then I do not know how to help."

Donna sighs and lands on the ground, she then puts the chair back in place before looking at the others with a small smile on her face. "Look, I appreciate the ideas, really, but this is something that Roy, Daichi, and I need to deal with. Privately."

"Guys!" Lilith shouts. "You're gonna want to see this!"

The others quickly run over to find a yellow and black jet landing on the island, from it emerges Billy Numerous, Gizmo, Jinx, Shimmer, and Mammoth. The five of them walk forward before staring up at the Tower.

Gizmo fiddles with the gauntlet on his right arm for a moment. _"Teen Titans!"_ Gizmo's voice shouts from the speakers, grating on the ears of everyone present. _"I am Gizmo, and we are the Hive Five! Guess what, we're here to kick your asses! We'll give you ten minutes to get ready,"_ the speakers deactivate.

Wally looks at the others, already wearing his suit. "Well, at least they gave us time to get ready."

"**Tup no tius,"** Zatanna chants. Her clothes change to black pants, high heels, a white dress shirt, a yellow vest, and a black tailcoat. "That's their first mistake."

Dick nods and the others follow as he heads towards the elevator. "All right let's get ready. Bumblebee, Zatanna, you aren't really publicly known yet, so we can use that to our advantage. Omen, where's Apex?"

Omen groans as she puts her phone in her pocket. "Can't call, they seem to have a jammer up. And he's out of range for me to telepathically call out for him."

Robin groans as the elevator doors open, the group heads over to where their spare suits are to find Speedy already getting ready. "Who's out there?" He asks.

"Some kid calling himself Gizmo, a girl with her hair dyed pink, some dude wearing a red and white suit, Mammoth, and Shimmer," Kid Flash answers as he leans on the case for Apex's suit.

Speedy swears quietly before testing out his bow. "What's the plan?"

"Zatanna and Bumblebee haven't made any public appearances with the team, so they'll hide and find an opening to attack with. Wonder Girl, Aqualad, you two can deal with Mammoth, you're best suited for it. Kid, you've got the guy in the red and white suit. Speedy and I can take on Gizmo, while Starfire takes on the pink haired girl, and Omen can deal with Shimmer," Robin plans.

"What about Apex? Shouldn't we keep trying to call him?" Bumblebee asks.

Speedy scoffs. "We don't need him."

Wonder Girl glares at him as she puts on her shoulder pad. "We don't, but it'd help to have him here. If Robin can't make a strategy he can, especially against Mammoth and Shimmer."

"He's the reason they're here!" Speedy shouts, but he recoils, regretting that he raised his voice at Wonder Girl.

Wonder Girl just sighs and shakes her head. "Everybody makes mistakes, Roy, be they speedster, archer, or evolved human."

"We can continue this conversation later," Omen then turns to Bumblebee. "I can't call him, there's something blocking communications, and he's out of range for me to call him telepathically without meditating."

Bumblebee then looks at Kid Flash. "And you?"

"I don't know where they are exactly. They could be on the road, at a rest stop, or the Kent Farm. I'd be gone for too long and I don't wanna leave you guys to fend for yourselves," he replies.

The speakers activate. _"Your time's almost up, Titans! If you don't get out now, we'll blow your house up!" _

"We'll get a hold of him later," Robin says as he puts on his mask. "Teen Titans Together!"

* * *

A few minutes later, the Teen Titans exit the tower and confront the Hive Five on their private beach. Zatanna and Bumblebee hide behind some rocks a distance away.

The two teams look each other over in a tense silence. Mammoth huffs, condensation coming out of his nose in powerful bursts. "Where's Apex?"

Speedy growls and nocks a smoke arrow. "Not here. We don't need him to kick your asses, anyway."

Robin puts an arm on the bow and lowers it down, not taking his eyes off of the Hive Five. "Why are you here?"

"Revenge," Shimmer answers.

"Obviously," Kid Flash mutters. "Where'd you get the new toys? I highly doubt any of you are rich enough to buy a state-of-the-art jet."

"Our…benefactor supplied it," Shimmer answers. "Enough talk, time to fight!"

Speedy quickly fires his smoke arrow at Hive Five, obstructing the view for most of them and running back to a better vantage point. Laser fire forces the team to scatter, and from the smoke Gizmo is the first to fly out, his goggles down and the guns on his jetpack firing at the Teen Titans. Robin throws some birdarangs and Speedy fires some arrows, capturing the attention of the little gremlin genius.

Next up, Billy Numerous runs out of the smoke, followed by three more, totaling at four of him. Kid Flash runs to him but the ground below him becomes ice thanks to Shimmer, tripping the speedster and causing him to slide towards the four. Billy and his clones then kick at Kid Flash's prone form.

A blast from Starfire sends the four clones flying back, giving Kid Flash the space he needs to catch his breath and run around, knocking out one of the clones almost immediately.

While she floats in the air, Starfire avoids a blast of pink magic from Jinx. She then swoops around and fires blasts of energy at Jinx and Shimmer. Jinx quickly puts up a shield while Shimmer somersaults back, but she groans in pain and holds her head as Omen begins the mental assault.

"_Now then, who's you benefactor?"_ Omen asks as she tries to go through Shimmer's mental defenses, she arches a brow as she attempts to enter. _"Hm, you've got better defenses then expected."_

Omen then notices the piece of the marble walkway coming at her, she quickly telekinetically launches it away, but as soon as it's gone, Mammoth is almost on top of her, his fists reared back to slam Omen down.

Aqualad and Wonder Girl fly in and punch Mammoth in the face, due to the momentum, the giant is sent flying back into the jet. Aqualad and Omen make eye contact before nodding, Aqualad and Wonder Girl then fly over to continue their onslaught.

Mammoth's arm suddenly shoots out and grabs Aqualad by the head. Wonder Girl reacts quickly and wraps her lasso around the arm, she then pulls back hard, forcing Mammoth to let go of the Atlantean. She notices Mammoth's other fist coming towards her, seeing that she doesn't have enough time to dodge or bring her shield up she does the next best thing, she turns so the shield on her back is between her and Mammoth's fist.

The punch sends her flying away, but the lasso's still around his arm, so she pulls him along with her, plants her feet down, and swings Mammoth downwards, hoping to slam him into the ground. But while fighting Starfire, Jinx gets a moment to breath and fires a blast of luck magic at the lasso around Mammoth's arm, causing it to loosen up and unwrap.

Mammoth then lands in front of Wonder Girl, much to her surprise, and punches her away, causing the Amazonian to fly towards the ocean.

Jinx smirks but is then hit by a blast from Starfire. The mage grits her teeth before aiming her hands at the Tamaranean. She then uses her luck magic to increase the speed of the wind, causing Starfire's hair to blow into her face, blinding her.

Jinx smirks. "And that's why I don't have long hair."

Jinx goes for a blast but a sharp, stinging sensation in her neck catches her attention. By instinct, she slaps at the spot. "AGH! Mosquitos!? In this weather?"

"Seriously?" A voice says from out of nowhere. "What makes you think I'm a damn mosquito?" A small ball of yellow light appears in front of Jinx's face. "It's Bumblebee, goth girl."

Bumblebee then hits Jinx in the face with a powerful stinger blast, sending the mage stumbling back as she screams and clutches at her face with one hand, the other hoping to swat Bumblebee out of the sky.

Thanks to her training (and this isn't the first time this has happened) Bumblebee expertly avoids Jinx's attempts and flies around, hitting her with stinger blast after stinger blast, much to Jinx's annoyance. "Will you stop that!?"

Bumblebee smirks before stopping. "Okay."

'_Wait, really?'_ Jinx thinks. She slowly lowers her arms to the side, ready to blast Bumblebee before opening her eyes. Starfire's right in front of her, and her glowing green fists don't look fun.

The Tamaranean Princess punches Jinx across the face, sending the mage flying back a distance away. Jinx sees that she's quickly flying towards the fountain, so she utters a spell that has Robin fly in her path due to an explosion, the Boy Wonder then cushions her fall.

Robin groans in pain at being used as a cushion once Jinx hurries off of him, Bumblebee and Starfire chasing after her. The latter looks a little too angry at Jinx's recent actions.

Robin shakes his head and leaps away as two small robots come after him. Their eyes then glow before firing energy blasts at him. The Boy Wonder avoids the robots and throws two electric birdarangs, deactivating the two. "Oh my God, it's like fighting gremlin MacGyver."

Gizmo lets out a high-pitched laugh as he dodges an arrow from Speedy, his jetpack gun then shoots down another one. But from the smoke a third arrow comes out and opens to become a net, trapping him. "AH! Let me go, dammit!"

Robin leaps over and kneels next to Gizmo, he raises his gauntlet and begins to hack into Gizmo's jetpack. "Wow, you've got pretty good defenses, won't lie. It'd be a shame if they were…broken."

From within the net, Gizmo's able to get his arms in a way that lets him activate a holographic screen and attempt to protect his tech.

The two then have a hack-off as Speedy notices Mammoth punch Wonder Girl towards the ocean. "Donna!" He shouts before leaping off of his hiding spot and running towards Mammoth.

Robin notices and looks away from his screen. "Dammit! Speedy, wait!"

Robin's hologram becomes green, and the chibi versions of his face are replaced with Gizmo's. "Shouldn't have done that!" Gizmo laughs.

One of the robots stands behind Robin and hits him with a taser on his exposed arm, locking up the Boy Wonder's muscles. Robin grits his teeth and manages to hold in his screams of pain as Gizmo manages to get out of the net.

He then stands up and grins down at Robin's convulsing form. Two arms appear from his jetpack and place two hilts in Gizmo's hands. Gizmo then grins and crosses his arms, pressing a button on the hilts that activate lasers in the form of sword.

The robots finish tasing Robin, letting him see Gizmo's weapons. "Oh, y-y-you made l-lightsabers."

"Yep," Gizmo raises the blades up above his head. "Time to strike you down!"

One of the Billy clones slams into Gizmo, sending him flying back and tossing the lightsabers away.

Kid Flash runs around another Billy Numerous clone, hitting it with a barrage of punches. While running, another one sticks his foot out, tripping the speedster and sending him skidding along the ground. Kid Flash's back hits a bench and the speedster groans. "I'm so glad I have armor."

Two clones come running at him, they jump in the air, ready to tackle him when they suddenly stop in the air, a blue-white barrier around them. Kid Flash sits up and nods. "Thanks, Zee."

"No prob-" Kid Flash suddenly runs behind her and punches the real Billy Numerous away from her. "Thanks."

The clone that knocked back Gizmo, and the real Billy slowly get up and come back towards the two. They crack their knuckles and glare at the two. Bumblebee then suddenly flies into Zatanna, breaking her concentration and letting the other two Billy clones free.

"Sorry!" Bumblebee shouts before flying back towards an injured Jinx.

Zatanna and Kid Flash stand back-to-back as they're surrounded by the four copies of Billy Numerous. "Ya know, if he were more powerful, we'd have to deal with more than four of him," Kid Flash says.

Zatanna nods. "Yeah. I got two, you got two?"

Kid Flash smirks. He then runs and clashes the heads of the real Billy and his clone together, knocking the two out. And because the real Billy is out the other two clones disappear, much to Zatanna's disappointment. "Aw man."

The two hear someone shouting, and it's getting closer. They dodge out of the way just as Aqualad slams into the ground, some blood trailing down his nose and one of his eyes looks like it'll be black in a few hours.

They look over to see Mammoth and Wonder Girl trading blows with each other, blood flying from each hit. Speedy's also knocked out on the ground, not too far away from the fight. "What the hell is he doing there!?" Kid Flash shouts.

Aqualad groans and slowly gets up. "He was worried about WG. Your guy's down?" At Kid Flash's nod he cracks his knuckles. "Help kick his ass."

"**Ekat ydeepS ot ytefas,"** Zatanna chants, Speedy disappears. She then notices Shimmer and Omen fighting. "I'll go help Lil."

Zatanna runs over and jumps above what's left of the stone Mammoth threw earlier. **"Erif!"** A ball of fire shoots at Shimmer, exploding just next to her and sending her flying back. Zatanna goes for another spell but Starfire lands right in front of her, breaking her concentration. Zatanna and Omen then help Starfire up, the three then look to see Shimmer and Jinx walking towards them.

Zatanna and Jinx glare at each other, ready to test their magic against each other. Shimmer slowly kneels down, her hands ready to shift the ground below the three. Omen sees this and telekinetically pushes her back, beginning the battle between the five.

"**Drows!" **A giant blue sword swings towards Jinx, but she puts up a pink shield, blocking the blade.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices many things. Shimmer's having problems with Omen and Starfire, Billy Numerous is knocked out, Gizmo's having a hard time dealing with Robin, and Mammoth's getting his ass handed to him by Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Kid Flash.

She grits her teeth and reaches into her pocket, pulling out the teleportation stone given to her by Brother Blood. Jinx quickly hits Zatanna with a luck spell, causing the girl to breath wrong and cough as she tries to clear her throat.

She then focuses her energy on the stone, a pink glow coming from her clenched fist. **"Hive Academy!" **She then tosses the rock to the ground. A blinding explosion of pink light erupts as soon as the stone hits the ground, and once it clears, the Teen Titans see that the Hive Five are gone.

After a moment of silence, the eight calm down. Kid Flash lets out a breath before falling onto his ass and taking off his cowl. "We would've won. Totally."

Garth grits his teeth as he kneels down next to Wally, one arm around his injured ribs. "I think he cracked my ribs. Damn, Mammoth hits hard."

Donna grits her teeth as she slowly sits down on a nearby bench, her right leg stretched out. During the battle, he grabbed her by the leg and squeezed down on it, nearly breaking the limb. Mammoth also got in a sucker punch to her head, leaving a deep, bleeding wound. He also swung her around, which is why Roy's knocked out.

"That he does," she agrees. "They left behind their jet though. Weird."

Dick groans and holds his right arm, the muscles in it occasionally twitching. "Yeah, it is. But we can use this. I can check the flight recorder, see where they came from."

"Hive Academy, you heard Jinx," Garth points out.

"Doesn't hurt to be sure," Dick then smirks. "Then again, I _did _get a tracker on Mammoth and cloning kid before they escaped, just in case."

Wally smirks. "Nice," he groans before standing up, rotating his arms backwards, then forwards. "Can we call Daichi?"

Donna tries but only gets static. She growls and shakes her head. "No. Something's still jamming the signal," the group all look at the jet. "Think that's why."

Dick sighs before getting up slowly. "We'll deal with it later. Once you're good, go get Daichi, all right, Wally?"

Wally nods and walks towards Titans Tower; the others follow him.

Donna's at the back of the group, before she enters the Tower she turns around and glares at the jet. "We're kicking your asses next time. Count on it."

* * *

_**Hades **_**is fucking fun, yo! And **_**Blood of Zeus**_** is a really great series! Wonder if that **_**Immortals Fenyx Rising**_** will be any good, and if it means there's gonna be a resurgence of people getting into Greek mythology.**

**And hey, the Hive Five are the main villains of this arc. Now they're obviously based off the _Teen Titans_ animated series with some changes here and there. For one, this Jinx is based more off the comic version, who's a bald Indian woman, but here she's an Indian teen with her hair dyed pink, so there's some elements of her animated counterpart. Also, did you know Billy Numerous only appeared in the show? He doesn't have a comic version of himself. **

**I never realized how easy it is to write fight scenes until this chapter. The slower, more personal parts of stories I find harder to write, mainly 'cause I'm not sure what to really write and where, but when it comes to combat, oooooh wee, that comes pouring out like water from a broken dam. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people! **


	10. Staunch the Bleeding

**Okay, time to continue the arc! This chapter will open in Smallville and we'll get to know more about the Kents before we hit the next fight and make some headway in the Daichi-Roy situation. **

**And hey, chapter 10! A small, but still important milestone! Here's to another ten, twenty, thirty chapters!**

**On another, more annoying note, the website seems to have been broken since the time I posted the last chapter, as a few people couldn't read it, myself included. I then looked at other stories and saw the same thing. Then the website seemed broken at two other times. I'm thinking about making an Archive of Our Own account and posting the stories there, what do you think?**

**And now to reply to a review!**

**AlexFalTon: **Honestly, I only explained Jinx so that you guys know she looks more like her comic version rather than her animated counterpart, so she won't have much to do with Daichi and Roy. But like I said, where Roy is, Cheshire is sure to follow, and that's actually pretty soon.

**Honestly don't have much to say here, so, let's get on with the story!**

* * *

**Staunch the Bleeding**

I'm sit down at the table as Martha begins to make some food for us, and while she does she tells me stories of Clark's time here, during the storytelling Lois and an excited Jon sit at the table as well, Clark and Jonathan putting the luggage away.

"And then he sneezed the tractor down to the other side of the field! And that's how we learned about his super breath," Martha finishes.

"Wow, it's a good thing no one else was around to see that happen," I mutter as I lean back in my seat. "What about his frost breath?"

"Oh, when we got the tractor back, we noticed some frost was all over it. Two powers with one stone," Martha answers.

"That's pretty awesome, gotta admit. Sucks that I don't have frost breath," I say as I rest my head in my hand.

"What powers do you have, dear?" Martha asks.

"Superhuman physical powers, flight, telekinesis, telepathy, a whole bunch of vision powers, energy absorption and redirection, accelerated regenerative healing factor, and superhuman senses. I can do a whole lot with the powers I have too, like create hard light structures with my energy," for example, I create an energy bird and have it fly around the kitchen. "Though I'm not as skilled as the Lanterns are with that particular skill."

Martha hums before putting a plate down in front of me, a massive helping of food on it. "I see. And what about those Teen Titans you're with? I've only met Wally, Dick, and Donna, but I admit I don't know much about them or the others."

"Starfire's fun. Naïve though, then again, she's only been on Earth for a few months. Omen's scary, but she's cool also. I think it's safe to say Aqualad's my best friend. Zatanna's cool, though her magic can be a little unnerving. Bumblebee's smart, and she can easily trick Wally, which isn't an easy thing to do," I answer as I eat.

"What about Speedy?" Lois asks, her eyebrow arched curiously.

"Speedy's…stubborn, but he's a good teammate," I answer, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Martha hums before she picks up Jon and sits down next to Lois, placing her grandson in her lap. "You should invite them for Christmas. I mean, they have homes to go to, but they should come over for a bit, exchange some gifts here."

"Yeah, I can bring that up with them," I shrug.

Jonathan and Clark come downstairs, the latter takes some food off of my plate and eats it. "Hey, Daichi, are you busy right now?"

"Clark, can't you see the boy's eating right now?" Martha chides.

"I know, Ma, but it's important. The longer your tractor's out the more worried I get," he admits as he rubs the back of his head.

She smiles gently. "Glad to see the city hasn't shrunk that big heart of yours, Clark. But seriously, let the boy-"

She stares in shock at the now empty plate.

"Superspeed," I explain. "So, what about this tractor?"

Jonathan, Clark, and I head over to the barn, and inside I see the tractor sitting in a back corner. The three of us walk towards it and Jonathan opens up a panel on the side. "It's been like this for a while now, but I have no idea what's wrong. Clark's told me you're pretty smart, think you can figure out what's wrong?"

I crouch down next to the tractor before humming and telekinetically taking it apart. I look through the pieces before eventually finding the part with the problem. Well, parts would be better.

Now, I don't know anything about tractors, so I won't even pretend to understand what I'm looking at, but I bring the three parts over to Clark and Jonathan, the two lean in to get closer looks.

"It seems these two parts are burnt out, and the coolant device seems to be malfunctioning. I can't exactly fix them, but we can get you new parts," I say.

Jonathan hums and holds the two burnt out parts while Clark holds the coolant. "I'll see if Bruce can send you some parts, Pa."

"Thank you, son. Both of you," Jonathan says.

I smile and rub the back of my head. "It's no big deal," as I put the tractor back to normal, I hear something rapidly approaching, a speedster. "You hear that too?" I ask Clark.

He looks outside with his x-ray vision. "It's Wally. He's in his suit, too."

The three of us head outside, and not a moment later Wally stops in front of us, skidding to a halt and kicking up snow that lands on all three of us. "I knew I should've worn a coat," Clark mutters as he wipes the snow off.

"Wally, hey! Want some hot chocolate?" Jonathan asks as he wipes the snow off of himself.

"No, I'm good, Mr. Kent," Wally politely declines. He then turns to me. "Dude, we gotta get back to the Tower yesterday."

"Why? What happened?" I ask, immediately getting worried.

Before Wally can begin to speak, we see some people walking outside towards the farm. Clark puts his hands on mine and Wally's shoulders and leads us inside as Jonathan goes to talk to the visitors.

Once inside, Martha and Lois quickly notice Wally in his suit. "Geez, can't even be gone for more than a day before something happens, eh, Daichi?" Lois jokes.

"Guess so," I then turn to Wally. "So, what happened?"

"We were just hanging out, right? When a jet came onto the island, it was somehow able to bypass our defenses, Red Tornado and Robin are already looking into that," Wally explains.

"Who attacked?" Clark asks.

Wally shakes his head. "Most of them were unknowns. A kid with high-tech gear," Gizmo, I'd guess. "A girl with pink hair who could do magic," Jinx for sure. "Some dude wearing a red and white suit who can clone himself," I have no idea who that is. "But the last two were pretty important: Mammoth and Shimmer."

Oh crap, it's the Hive Five.

"Wait, why didn't you call me?" I ask as I look in my pockets for my phone. Wait, where is it? Crap, I left it in the car.

"We tried to, but their ship has a jammer active, that's why we couldn't get to you or the Justice League or the Society. Teleporters are down too," Wally answers.

I sigh deeply before heading towards the stairs. "Which room am I in?"

"Third door on the right," Clark answers.

I go inside and change into my suit. Once I come back downstairs, I see Wally's drinking some hot chocolate at the dinner table. So much for being "good."

Wally quickly downs the rest of the drink before getting up and putting on his cowl. "C'mon, we can get this done real quick, twenty minutes, in and out."

"I'll be sure to tell the League what happened. Good luck you two," Clark says.

"Let's do it. See you guys later," I say as Wally and I head back to Titans Tower.

* * *

The Hive Five stumble forward as they return to their base of operations.

Brother Blood smirks as he watches the five return, he opens his arms. "And so you've returned, successful!"

Mammoth grunts. "Successful? We didn't even win!" He clenches his fist and grits his teeth. "Apex wasn't even there."

"All in due time, Baran, all in due time," he turns around and heads to the doors. "Come, your rewards await you."

The Hive Five share a quick glance, Billy Numerous then shrugs and follows Brother Blood. "He hasn't proved us wrong before, may as well see this through."

The others nod in agreement before following.

After a few minutes they arrive in what looks to be a ritual room, a small fountain in the center surrounded by a blood-red pentagram on the floor.

"Whoa, we're not summoning Satan, are we?" Gizmo asks. "Because I did not sign up for that."

Brother Blood smirks. "No, my dear boy, we aren't summoning Satan (though we have another demon in mind). This is your reward. Stand in a point."

Jinx is the first to move forward. "I can smell the magic reeking off of this. You plan on increasing our power. Well, I'm all for it," she stands in one point.

At that, Mammoth immediately moves into another point, an excited grin on his face. "Apex won't know what hit him."

"Geez, you got one hell of a hate-boner for the guy, huh?" Billy Numerous quips as he stands in another point. He raises his hands in surrender when Mammoth growls at him. "Sorry!"

"This better be worth it, Blood," Shimmer warns as she stands next to her brother.

Gizmo floats into the final point. "So now what? Do we sing? Chant? Sacrifice our blood?"

"Yes, to that last one," Brother Blood puts a knife into Billy Numerous' hand. "Cut your palm, then place it on the pedestal in front of you," Billy Numerous does just that. "Now pass it down."

Gizmo takes the knife and hesitates a little. "If I get a bloodborne disease I'm blaming you," he then cuts his palm and passes it to Shimmer.

Shimmer's silent as she looks at Blood suspiciously before cutting her palm and placing her hand on the pedestal.

Mammoth takes the knife and quickly cuts his hand; he stares in surprise at how easily it pierced his skin before shrugging and handing it to Jinx.

"Oh, this is gonna be good," she comments before repeating everyone else's actions.

Brother Blood then takes the knife and cuts his palm. "Today is a new day for the Hive Five!" The walls around the group break apart, revealing that they're standing on a stage, Cult of Blood members all around, watching the ritual. "Yesterday, these children were defeated, tossed aside, but today? Today they grow! And tomorrow they win!" Brother Blood then slams his uncut fist into his chest. "Hail, Trigon!"

The crowd repeats the action. "Hail Trigon! Hail Trigon! Hail Trigon!"

Brother Blood's blood then flows from his cut palm to the center of the pedestal, filling the small pool quickly, pipes then move the blood over to the cut palms of the Hive Five and enters their bodies through their cuts.

The five groan in pain and discomfort as their bodies change, some within, some both within and without.

For Shimmer there isn't a physical change, but she can feel the increase in power. Now, she can use her transmutation to create anything, without having to know the chemical makeup of the object she's changing, and what her target is.

Gizmo gains green tech lines along his skin. The technology in his gear begins to speak to him, and he speaks to it. Not just his tech, but he can speak to all the electronics in the building, he feels as if his eyes have been opened for the first time.

Billy Numerous feels like he's overflowing, like he has too much to contain in so little. Without needing to find out, he now knows, he can create far more clones than just three, but how much? Only one way to find out.

Jinx has a physical change as well. Her dyed pink hair now becomes natural, and her eyes become pink as well. Her arms have also changed from their dark brown to a pale gray. She feels her connection to the magic of the universe strengthen exponentially.

Of the five, Mammoth's change is the most glaring. He seemingly doubles in size, his massive frame now becoming gargantuan. His skin becomes a greenish-brown hide, but there are cracks in places, exposing his muscles. His teeth become fangs and he gains claws. Due to the change in size, the top half of his suit is shredded, but his pants manage to stay intact.

The ritual then ends and the five stumble back, they all look at each other in shock and surprise before turning to a smiling Brother Blood.

"This time you won't lose," he states.

* * *

**Titans Tower**

The two of us arrive at the entrance to the Tower. Once I land, I turn around and look at the destroyed courtyard behind me, the jet in the distance also catches my attention.

"We would have Zee clean it all up, but that other mage did something to her, now she's got a sore throat," Wally says as we enter the elevator to head to the top floor.

The elevator doors open and we head over to the mission room, and as soon as the doors open a blur of red slams into me and pins me to the wall. "Where the hell were you!?" Roy shouts.

I slowly take his hands off the collar of my suit and glare at him. "Hate to say it, but Wally told me communications were cut, so you can't blame me for not answering your calls," I pull out my phone and show him the call history. "Nothing. But I'm here now, how's it looking?"

"No, we aren't done yet, Akiyama," Roy says. "Okay, we couldn't call you, but why didn't you hear what was happening!? Seriously, you've got these super senses and yet you fail to use them!"

"They're _my _powers, Harper, I use them how I see fit," I counter as the two of us glare at each other.

"You haven't used them effectively lately," he argues.

"Harper, we had more pressing matters at the time, and now? I was busy with something else. I mean, why are you mad!? Everyone's still alive and no one's captured!" I shout.

"ENOUGH!"

We're both pushed apart by an angry looking Donna, I see a bandage around her head and some dried blood around the wound. "The two of you can have your measuring contest later! Right now, we need to retaliate against the people who attacked our base! Got it, Harper?"

Roy glares at me for a moment before scoffing and joining the others.

Donna turns to me, her glare still on her face. "And you. You're one of our leaders, you need to be above petty things like this on the mission. Got it?"

I look down in shame before looking back into her eyes and giving her a determined nod. "Got it," the two of us walk over to join the others, I stand next to Dick as footage of the fight is shown on a holographic screen. "Looks like you guys did good without me."

Roy scoffs and begins to mutter something, but Donna's elbow stops him.

"You're right, we probably would've won, but our injuries would be a whole lot worse. Doesn't help that they attacked our home, that was pretty jarring to happen so soon in our team's lifespan," Dick replies.

I cringe as I see Mammoth's punch against Donna that sends her flying away. Well, now I know how she got that injury, Mammoth's gonna regret that. I look closer at Jinx's part of the footage, perfect. I zoom in on her. "I think I figured out her magic specialty."

"What is it?" Zatanna asks in a hoarse voice.

"Luck magic. I mean, look at this, she should've hit the fountain, yet Dick just happened to get in the way. And for you, when you were about to make a spell, she caused you to choke on air, and mess up your vocal chords," I fold my arms and look at the footage again. "She's definitely a dangerous one."

"The others were pretty straight forward," Dick says as he pulls up their files. "The tech genius calls himself Gizmo, he's the son of the first Gizmo who would occasionally fight the Justice Society. The cloning guy is called Billy Numerous, he can only make three clones of himself, totaling to four of him. And the girl's Jinx, she's a low-level mage, and as Daichi said, her specialty is in luck magic. They called themselves the Hive Five."

"That's not all, they have a benefactor," Garth adds. "Don't know who though, they never thought to divulge that information."

Hm, I think I know who, but I can't say anything without even any way of pinning it to him. "Well, 'least we know what they can do. What about the jet on our front lawn?"

"I've got a program breaking the encryption to tell us where they came from. It's surprisingly strong," Dick admits. "Gizmo's influence, no doubt."

"Right," I fold my arms and take a deep breath through my nose. "All right, Superman's telling the League what happened, but we shouldn't expect any assistance as always. When we get the location, we'll meet back here and think up a plan of attack. Until then, break."

Roy's the first to leave, followed by Karen and Zatanna, then Wally, Garth, and Lilith leave, Dick and Kory then get out of the mission room, leaving me and Donna.

She sighs before walking over to me and taking my hand. She then leads me over to her room and locks the door behind her. Donna walks me over to her bed and sits me down on it, she then sits on my lap and rests her arms on my shoulders, I rest my hands on her hips.

"This is getting out of hand," she begins. "You're normally calm, but now Roy's getting under your skin, it won't end well."

"I know, I know. It's just-" I pause for a moment. "Who is he to tell me how to use _my _powers? I was busy meeting Martha and Jonathan; I didn't want to be rude and listen for things all the way in California."

Donna smiles before leaning in for a quick kiss on the cheek. "I know, and that's sweet of you. But you need to understand, Roy doesn't know what it's like to have senses like yours, he thinks it's as simple as listening out for a simple sign when it really isn't. He has to understand."

"How do I-" My eyes widen as an idea comes to mind. "I could telepathically link him to my senses, show him it's not as easy as he thinks to filter them all out."

"Smart idea, but that sounds dangerous. Most people usually aren't good with a sudden increase to their senses, you of all people should know that," Donna warns.

I groan and lean back, flopping down on the bed and bringing Donna down with me. "You're right, as always. What should I do then?"

Donna smiles and nuzzles her head into my cheek. "You'll figure something out, you always do."

The two of us lay down in silence as her hand traces circles on my chest and I do the same with her lower back. Eventually Donna sits up and straddles my waist, a mischievous smile on her face. "Well, while we're waiting for Dick's techno-thingy to do its thing, maybe you and I can do some exploring?"

"What do you have in mind?" I ask with an arched brow.

Donna just leans in closer, her long hair creating a sort of curtain separating us from the rest of the world. "Why say when I can show you?"

She pulls me into a deep kiss, her tongue immediately wrestles mine for control. Oh. Well, I'm more than willing to explore this, but she should know, I won't let her win this little match of ours.

I begin to move my own tongue in tandem with hers, causing Donna to moan in delight and pleasure as I pull her closer to me. Her hands rest on each of my cheeks and lightly caress them as we continue.

There's a knock on the door that interrupts our make-out session, Donna groans in annoyance as she pulls back slightly and turns her head to the door. "This better be important!"

"Dick's algorithm managed to crack the code to the Hive Five's jet, he wants us in the mission room," Karen replies before I hear her walking away.

Donna sighs before she sits up, I come up with her. "Should've seen that one coming. We can't make-out all day, you know."

"I know," Donna's sly smirk then returns. "Would love too, though."

I shake my head in amusement as the two of us get up and exit her room, we then head downstairs and run into Lilith and Garth as they get out of the latter's room. "Sooo, what'd you two do in there?" Lilith asks as she and Donna walk together, arms around each other's waists.

"Oh, you know, made-out. You two?" Donna asks with a grin.

Lilith looks at Garth and winks, causing the Atlantean to blush. "Same thing."

The two girls laugh and talk amongst themselves as Garth and I share a glance. He then shrugs. "Girls."

I nod. "Girls."

We enter the mission room to find most of the others waiting, Wally not being here yet. I walk over to stand next to Dick as we wait, and after a few minutes he runs in with a massive sandwich in his hands.

Dick sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose before muttering, "Goddammit, Wally," he claps his hands and brings up a holographic screen. "Okay! According to the jet (and the trackers I placed on them) they came from a location in Jump City. That's over in New York," he says once he notices mine and Kory's confused looks.

"They're based in New York? They do know Superman and the Justice Society work out of there, right?" I ask. Why would they choose there as the base of operations?

"No idea. I will say this though, for a moment my tracker told me they were in New York, but then it was immediately blocked, so wherever they are they've got decent defenses against Batman's tech," Dick replies. "Thankfully, their jet can tell us their exact location."

Wally raises his hand. "Uh, we aren't gonna fly it, are we? 'Cause I'll be the first to say, I'm not comfortable with flying one of their ships."

"No, I'm gonna check through the data then input the coordinates to our Javelin. The teleporters are still down, Gizmo's blocking of our systems is surprisingly effective," Dick answers.

"How long will this take?" Karen asks.

Dick pulls up a holographic screen and inputs some commands, he then leans back in shock and stares at the screen with wide eyes. "Um…huh, longer than expected. It's looking like fifteen hours."

The other's look at him in surprise, instead I hum and cup my chin. "We could use this," I begin. "It'll be pretty late at night in New York around that time, we can move under cover of night and test out our new stealth tech. Zatanna can use this time to help soothe her throat and you guys can heal from your injuries."

Dick nods. "Perfect. All right, guys, we'll do the plan later, until then, dismissed. Daichi, can we talk?"

I give Donna a quick smile before she and the others leave the room. Once the door closes, I turn to Dick. "What's up?"

"Talk to Roy. Now."

I sigh in annoyance before running my hand through my hair, which is now returning to its shoulder length form. "Yeah, I know. Man, you're like, the eighth person to tell me that."

"Then you should know how important it is for you to do this," Dick says as he folds his arms. "We're gonna hit them back, and the two of you need to put this aside, otherwise we won't win."

"No, we won't," I agree before smiling. "You know, you're pretty good at this keeping us together thing. Though Donna's better at stopping a fight from breaking out."

Dick smiles and rubs the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, she is. And you're good at being a leader. You sure you never had to lead people back up in space?"

"No, I was-" I remember the sound of bone's cracking, a scream right after.

Dick's hand is suddenly on my shoulder, I shake my head to see a concerned look on his face. "Hey, you okay? You were out of it for a bit."

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. What'd you say again?" I ask.

Dick's concerned face wavers before he smiles. "Nothing important. Hey, after you talk to Roy maybe you can head over to the Kent Farm, take some time to get ready. Tell Jonathan and Martha "hi" for me also."

I nod as the two of us exit the mission room. "You got it," we then look around but find no Zatanna, Karen, Wally, or Roy. "Where're the others?"

"They returned home. Wally took Karen and Roy while Zatanna teleported," Kory answers. "I plan to return to Wayne Manor as well."

"Yeah, I'm gonna head to Atlantis with Garth, some of the mages there can teleport me home," Lilith adds as she and Garth stand by the elevator.

I notice Dick look at me from the corner of my eye, I just wave it away. "Donna? What about you?"

She comes from her room, the door open, and leans on the railing, a small travel bag in her arms. "I was thinking I could go to Smallville with you. That's not too much, is it?"

I shrug. "No, should be fine. Just expect a lot of teasing from Lois."

Donna smiles before jumping over the railing and floating down next to me as the rest of us walk to the elevator. "It's nothing I can't handle," she boasts.

"You say that now…" I whisper. "So, the Hive Five, no hints as to who's giving them shelter?"

Garth shakes his head. "No, they just said someone gave them their jet and that's it. Chances are, whoever gave them their jet also got Mammoth and Shimmer out way back during the fight against the Fearsome Five."

"Huh, two teams of Five, wonder what's up with that," Lilith comments. "Ah well, we have literally double their numbers, and four heavy hitters whereas they have one. We got this."

The others nod and are determined, me on the other hand, I'm not so sure. The elevator doors then open and we all exit the Tower, and I can see that everything's fixed, thank you, Zatanna.

We all say our goodbyes before going our separate ways.

Donna and I fly through the cold air of San Francisco, the snow falling on us, but we don't really feel cold, thanks to our bodies. As we fly Donna slowly floats closer to me, she then flies parallel to me, our fronts facing each other.

I look down with a small smile. "Yeah?"

She smiles back. "You make a great leader, you know that? But you know what'd make you an even better leader?"

"What?" I ask with a tilt of my head.

She grabs my hands and drags me along in a different direction, northwards. "Donna? Where are you taking me?" I don't get an answer. "Donna?"

"Oliver has a cabin in the woods outside of Star City, he, Dinah, and Roy stay there around this time of year," Donna answers. "Get ready, we're doing this now. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it," I reply with a nod. Geez, if I'm the leader then she's the boss.

She is right though, may as well deal with it now.

* * *

**Outskirts of Star City**

The two of us land nearby a log cabin, the lights on and smoke coming out of the chimney. Using my super hearing I can tell that there are four people inside, three in the kitchen, and one in a bedroom.

Donna lightly elbows my side before walking up on the porch and knocking the door. Oliver and Dinah stop talking, and Oliver moves to a hiding spot as Dinah comes over to the door, she then opens it and looks surprised before smiling and pulling us in with a hug as she holds a blond boy around Helena's age with her other arm.

"Daichi! Donna! What are you two doing here? Oh, Daichi, this is our son, Connor. Say hi, Connor," She says as Oliver comes out of a corner, his bow in his hands.

"Hi," the boy waves.

"Hi," I wave back.

Donna not so subtly points her thumb at me. "Oh, you know, we just wanna deal with some in-team drama, and Daichi here's gonna deal with it. Like a leader. Right, Dai?"

I nod. "Right."

"Roy's room is the-" Oliver cuts himself off. "Wait, super hearing, you can find it no problem."

I nod before walking over to Roy's door, Donna, Oliver, and Dinah begin talking as they head over to the kitchen. Connor plays with Donna's hair.

I stand in front of the door and raise my fist to knock, but just before I can, it opens. "Come in," Roy simply says as he steps aside.

I hum before walking into the room. I look around to see some posters of rock bands and some movies along the wall, a target for darts on his closet door, a table with a spinning chair, and a TV across the bed.

"Pretty luxurious for a seasonal place," I comment.

"Just say what you want to and get out, Akiyama," Roy folds his arms.

I sigh before turning around and looking at Roy. "Look, Roy, this whole feud between me and you is stupid. I know it has more to do than me and Donna being together, but none of that matters. It's pretty damn obvious we aren't like the League, we're closer than they are, so that means any infighting can be far more catastrophic for us. This _needs _to be solved now, especially before we deal with the Hive Five."

"…All right, how do we solve this then?" Roy asks.

"That's the thing, it's all on you. I have no problem, Donna has no problem, it's you with the problem, _you_ have to fix this," I say.

Roy scoffs. "And here I thought you'd be able to solve this. After all, you always go on about how you're sooo much smarter than the curriculum."

I grumble and pinch the bridge of my nose. "You- okay. Stay calm, Dai," I whisper. "Look, that's different, we don't have classes for jealousy and love triangles between superhero teens. This could have multiple ways of ending, the way World War II ended? Only one answer."

Roy looks away and takes a deep breath. "Look, there's a lot of reasons I'm angry, I'll admit. Just-just give me some time to think about it, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," I agree.

The two of us walk over to the kitchen where we find Oliver handing Donna a bag, using my infrared I can see heat radiating off of it. "What's in the bag?" I ask.

"It's some of Ollie's chili," Roy says. "Be careful, I'm not sure if even you could handle it. Well, see you guys later."

Donna hugs Oliver, Dinah, and Connor really quick before pulling Roy into a hug. "See you later, Roy! Ollie, Dinah, Connor, Merry Christmas and happy holidays!"

I follow after her and give them a two-finger salute. "What she said."

As we fly away, I notice Donna look at me with a smile. "Yeah?"

"You did good," she compliments. "How're things with you and Roy?"

"He's gonna think on it, but I guess you can say things are getting better," I answer with a shrug. I then point at the bag in her hands. "What's up with that? When using my infrared, it looked as hot as my heat vision."

"Oh, this is Ollie's infamous chili," Donna answers, confirming my suspicions. "I've never had it, but I hear it's extremely spicy. I once saw a bowl back at the manor a few years ago, but Diana stopped me before I could even get the spoon in."

"Huh, must be hot," I say.

"Yeah, but I'm hotter, right?" She asks as she spins around me.

I smile and hold her by the waist. "The hottest," we then kiss as we fly through some clouds.

Donna pulls out of the kiss and flies a little faster. "Hey, can you hold these telekinetically?" Once I do so she smirks. "Race you to Smallville!" Donna suddenly speeds ahead.

"Wha- Donna! Hold up!" I groan before speeding after her, careful to make sure the food and her clothes don't start raining down and confusing the general populace.

* * *

**Smallville**

"Ha! I win!" Donna announces as she thumps her chest proudly.

I land next to her and vibrate the snow off of me. "I'm just saying, if I didn't have to worry about the chili or your stuff, I'd win."

Donna just smirks and has her fists on her hips. "I didn't know you learned to complain up in space."

I just smile and shrug before heading to the house, on the way there Clark opens the door. "Donna! How are you?"

The two of us walk onto the porch and look around for any civilians before she answers. "Oh, I'm good. Just thought I'd visit while we wait for Dick to get the data from the Hive Five to our Javelin."

Clark nods. "Right. Do Bruce and Diana know you're here?"

Donna shrugs.

Clark shakes his head in amusement before he notices the chili floating by me. His face pales slightly and he points at it. "So, uh, is that what I think it is?"

"Oliver's chili? Yeah," I answer. "Where should I put it?"

"Oh, you can put it in the kitchen," he then sighs deeply. "Ma's gonna make us eat it. Dammit."

The door opens and Lois sticks her head out. "Clark, what's taking so long?" She then notices why it's taking so long. "Oh, hey Dai, Donna!"

"Hello, Lois," Donna replies as the two hug. "Is Jon awake?"

"Kid's getting tired, but I'm sure he'd be excited to see you, Ma and Pa also," Lois says as she leads her inside.

We enter the living room to see Jonathan sitting on the couch, his tired grandson sitting in his lap as they watch a relatively old movie, looks like one of the Indiana Jones movies.

Martha comes from upstairs, wearing pajamas, she's surprised for a moment before greeting us. "Oh, hello, Donna! To what do we owe this visit?"

Donna shrugs. "I just thought I'd visit while we wait. I brought my stuff, too."

"You mean _I _brought it," I mutter.

"Semantics, babe," Donna says. "So, is there a room for me to stay in?"

"Well all the rooms are taken," Lois says, a devious smirk then grows on her face. "Buuut you could room with Daichi."

"Just don't be too loud," Martha adds.

My face heats up exponentially and I suddenly wish Darkseid would choose now to attack. Donna stutters before grabbing her bag and hurrying upstairs, avoiding eye contact with me, I notice her face is beet red the entire time.

As Lois and Martha break out in laughter, I glare at them. "Seriously?"

Martha ruffles my hair. "Seriously. I'm going to sleep, you'd better wake up early tomorrow, otherwise you'll miss breakfast. Good night, all."

Lois then yawns loudly and goes over to pick up Jon. "Looks like me and Tinyville are getting tired, too. 'Night guys."

And then there were three.

Clark sits next to his dad as I sit down on the couch next to them, the three of us watching _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ silently for a while. "So, Daichi," Jonathan eventually says. "How did things go with this Roy Harper boy?"

I blink in surprise and look at him. "You know about that?"

"I told him. But yeah, how did it go?" Clark asks.

"It's…improving? Donna and I don't have problems with Roy, he has the problem with us, me. He's gonna take some time to think on it. I just hope he comes to a decision tomorrow, that's when we plan to hit the Hive Five in their home base," I answer.

Clark hums. "The Hive Five, who were they?"

"Some guy who can clone himself, a girl with luck magic, a kid calling himself Gizmo, and everyone's favorite Australian supervillain sibling duo, Mammoth and Shimmer," I reply.

"Huh, the first Gizmo had a kid? Definitely didn't see that one coming," Clark whispers as he looks up at the ceiling.

"Look, Daichi," Jonathan says. "This moment is something you need to remember. You'll make choices that will make you happy, but not everyone will be happy with what you choose, but don't listen to them. Stick with your ideals and don't let them knock you over, got it?"

I nod. "Got it."

Jonathan nods before getting up and stretching. "Well, time to hit the hay for this old man. Good luck on your hit against the Hive Five. Hit that Mammoth extra hard for me, will ya?"

"You've got it," I reply with a salute as he heads upstairs.

Once he enters his bedroom Clark looks at me with a smirk. "So, is he the same in the comics?"

"Just about," I answer. "It's because of him and Martha that you're one of the greatest superheroes out there."

"Well, I wouldn't be me without them. I just hope I'm the same for Jon. And you," he admits.

"I think you're doing a pretty good job," I then get up. "I'm gonna go to sleep. See you tomorrow."

"Don't be too loud," Clark laughs as I grumble and head upstairs.

I enter the room to find Donna now wearing pajama pants and a plain black t-shirt; she's sitting on the bed, her chin resting on one knee as she scrolls through her phone. She looks at me and blushes slightly as I take off my suit and change into some shorts.

"What was it you said earlier? Oh, right "nothing I can't handle." Still feel the same?" I tease as I sit down next to her.

"Shut up, you were just as embarrassed as me, maybe even more so," she pouts. Her face then becomes redder as she reads a text. "Diana nooo…"

"What?" I arch a brow.

She just gives me her phone and I read the text. I feel my face heat up before giving her the phone back. "Oh."

"Oh indeed," Donna groans. "I'm not sure what I'd prefer, strict adults, or teasing adults."

"Eh, if we had strict adults in our lives, I'd have to sleep on the couch in the living room. Which wouldn't be so bad since I can't feel the cold," I reply.

"Oh, so you don't want to sleep in the same bed as me? Keep me warm in the cold winter night?" Donna says with a pout.

"I- whoa- wait! No, no, nonononono! T-that's not what I meant! I'd love to sleep with you!" Hold up. My face heats up. "Wait, no, not like that! I-I-I-I…"

Donna laughs, a melodious tune that quickly drowns out my stuttering. "Oh, Dai, I love messing with you," she leans in and kisses me. "But I love kissing you even more," she rolls over and turns off the lamp on her side. "Good night, babe."

I turn off the lamp on my side before laying down next to her, an arm around her waist. "Good night, love."

* * *

"Get up, love birds!" Lois shouts from the other side of the door.

I slowly open my eyes and get up, looking behind me to see the clock go from 6:59 to 7:00 AM sharp. They weren't lying when they said they got up early, but why do I feel like this is a late morning for them?

I get up (much to Donna's chagrin) and grab a shirt and change into a pair of black sweatpants, and once that's done, I walk over to the Amazon and shake her by the shoulder. "Donna, hey, breakfast."

She groans in protest and digs herself deeper in the bed. "Daichi, what time is it?"

"7:04 AM."

"That's way too early. Let me sleep, if I miss breakfast, I miss breakfast, big deal," she mutters.

"But it's Martha Kent's breakfast," I say.

Donna suddenly shoots up from bed and runs through the door, nearly knocking Clark over in the process. "Huh, guess she's willing to wake up early for somethings."

"I guess so," I reply as we walk downstairs together. "If I'm right, we'll leave sometime around the night, so yeah, we'll be here for a while. At least now we can test our stealth tech for real."

"You seem pretty excited for that," Clark comments as we sit down at the table, Martha puts down some plates in front of us.

"Excited for what?" Donna asks as she eats.

"Stealth tech," I answer.

"Yeah, what's up with that? What, you so excited to be a ninja? I won't lie, I am too," Donna agrees.

"Stealth tech?" Jonathan asks.

"A lot of us have colorful suits, with the stealth tech we can move a lot easier in places where we need to be quiet. I mean, yeah, my suit's mainly black, but there's still enough orange to catch me. Don't even get me started on Donna's red, white, and blue," I smile as I nod my head towards her.

Donna just smiles before grabbing some bacon off of my plate. What is it with everyone and taking my food? She notices my look. "Hey, just because you can't take my food doesn't mean I can't take yours."

"I wouldn't fight her if I were you, Daichi, Martha's the same," Jonathan advises.

Said woman lightly smacks his hand away from her plate. "Shut up, Jonathan," the Kryptonian-Human hybrid begins to cry out, Martha turns to him and feeds him a small part of her pancake. "No, not you, dear, the other Jonathan."

Jon nods before reaching out for my plate. "Dai! Dai!"

I sigh before giving him some eggs. "May as well give everyone my food."

"I thought you didn't need to eat?" Clark asks with a smirk.

"Ha! Nice!" Lois laughs as they high five.

I grumble and rest my head on the table as the others laugh at my expense. Using my telekinesis, I manage to eat another one of my pancakes, but in doing so I draw Martha's attention.

"No powers at the table!" She admonishes.

"Sorry," I reply before using my hands again. "Was just curious, is all."

For the next few minutes, we just eat and generally have a good time, once the food's done, Donna and I sit on the roof as the snow falls lightly. We're both wearing coats to keep up appearances as we sit close to each other, occasionally whispering sweet nothings to each other and kissing.

Donna lets out a breath and the two of us watch the mist in the air, I then do the same, our mists swirling together before fading away. "It's weird how similar yet different things are here when compared to the manor," Donna says.

"How so?" I ask.

"Well for one, we've got a bigger table, so there's no need to worry about bumping elbows with each other. Two, there's a more, I don't know, professional air about the room, doesn't mean we don't have fun though. You should've seen it, this one time, Helena got borderline depressed when she found a dead squirrel, right, so she wanted to do an investigation to find Mr. Cheeky's murderer. So Bruce was dressed as Batman while she was in a customized Robin costume, the two spent the entire day solving the mystery!" Donna chuckles.

"So, who did Mr. Cheeky in?" I ask.

"Titus did," Donna answers. "Helena was mad at him for like a minute before the two became best friends again."

"Yeah, sounds like Helena all right," I whisper as I catch a snowflake on the tip of my finger. "How are Diana and the other kid?"

"They're both fine. In fact, we've found out the child's gender—a boy," Donna says. "Helena's extremely excited to have a little brother, says she'll be the best big sister around. What about Lois' child?"

"A girl. They've been thinking about names for a while now. Well, human names, she's already got a Kryptonian one, Cir-El," I answer.

"Huh, "Cir-El", it's a beautiful name," she whispers. "Wait, what's Jon's?"

"Van-El," I answer. It was honestly funny when I learned that, the first thing that came to mind was the _Justice League Unlimited _episode "For the Man Who Has Everything." That was the name of Clark's son in that story.

"Hey, Donna!" We both look over to see Lois and Martha standing just in front of the house, the former shouting. "We were planning on getting some groceries, but Clark's worried and doesn't want us going out alone, what with the snow and all that. Wanna come with?"

"Yeah, sure," Donna kisses me on the cheek before hopping down and walking with Lois and Martha over to the car.

"Can you get me some Life Savers!? Gummy, to be precise!" I shout.

Donna turns around and gives me a thumbs up before the ladies drive off.

I lay on my back and let out a powerful breath, the snow getting blown away, placing the house in a little bubble momentarily before the snow comes flying back down. How does Clark's ice breath work? I should ask, if it isn't a Kryptonian only thing maybe I can get ice breath, add that to my laundry list of powers.

Well, let me try on my own, first.

I hold my hand out in front of me as I take a deep breath, compress the air, and then blow it out through a narrow hole. Heh, looks like it worked, and on the first try.

My hand's covered in a thin shell of ice. I study it and turn my hand, looking it over. Okay, I can work with this. If I wanna use this against Mammoth I'm going to need a lot of ice, Shimmer and Jinx are a whole other matter, it could work, if I get them instantly, otherwise they'd escape easily, Gizmo probably has something to deal with ice, but the cloning guy? I might get him.

I smirk before shooting some beams of heat vision, melting the ice around my hands.

"Looks like you've got a new power," Clark says as he hops up to sit next to me, Jon in his arms.

"Eh, just wanted to see if I could use ice breath. Looks like I can," I reply. I then reach out and poke Jon in his belly, pulling my finger back when he reaches for it and poking again. "Gotta be faster than that, little man."

Jon grumbles and tries to bite my finger. Clark laughs and ruffles his hair. "I know Bruce said to not talk about possible futures for us and all, but I gotta ask: does Jon have a good future?"

"I'm not sure," I answer. "See, your stories started way back in the late thirties, in fact, you're one of the first superheroes (Zatara, too, which is kind of surprising). But Jon's actually really recent in the grand scheme of things, so there's a lot I don't know about his future."

Clark hums and hugs Jon closer to him. "Got it. Do you want me to tell Lois? Trust me when I say, she can keep a secret."

I hum and look forward, I then nod. "Yeah, well, I wanna tell her. Maybe Jonathan and Martha as well."

"You know you can call them Ma and Pa, right?" Clark asks.

"I don't know, that seems pretty personal, you know? I'm not sure if it'd be right," I reply as I scratch my cheek.

I notice him open his mouth before closing it, he smirks before looking ahead. "Whatever you say," he then becomes serious. "These Hive Five guys, where are they?"

"Before his tracker deactivated Robin found them somewhere in New York, their jet says the same thing. We're gonna get the data and then strike them in _their _home," I reply. "But it makes me wonder, why New York? We operate out there, the Justice Society is based there, and there are other superheroes in the area."

"That's a good question. If you get the chance you should find out, who knows what you'll learn," Clark replies.

I hum before blowing some snow away, again creating a bubble for the house. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Of course it does, it's one of mine," Clark replies with a superior smirk as he puffs his chest out.

I roll my eyes in amusement. "Got it. Hey, what'd you get Lois?"

"Oh, you know, a diamond necklace made by yours truly," Clark replies nonchalantly. "Got some coal, crushed it up, BOOM, diamond necklace. What'd you get Donna?"

"This super expensive camera she eyed during a date a few weeks ago. Took almost all of my money to buy it, but it'll be worth it," I answer with a faint smile.

"It always is for the woman you love," Clark whispers.

My eyes widen as I shake my hands. "Whoa! Love is, uh…"

"You two have been dating for what? Three months now?" Clark asks.

"Yeah! So it's a little too much to say love this early in our relationship!" I reply.

"I'm sure you've heard this before, but in our life it's best to say everything you can when you can, never know if tomorrow might not come," he looks down and sighs. "I almost lost that chance with Lois when I revealed my identity to her."

I'm silent as I look at him for a moment before facing forward, looking over Smallville and eventually finding Donna, Lois, and Martha at the nearby market, the three talking about something that makes Donna gasp and become excited.

"You're not listening in, are you?" Clark asks. "Lois sometimes hates it when I keep an eye on her, but considering the danger she puts herself in…"

"I know what you mean," I then rub the back of my head. "I may have kept an eye on her every now and again," I sheepishly admit.

Clark does a zipping motion with his mouth. "Stays between us. But you never answered."

"No, I'm not. I mean, it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations unless you absolutely have to," I answer. I then look down and clench my fist. "Even if The Evolutionary says otherwise."

"What was your time like with him?" Clark asks carefully.

I grab some snow and throw it up as hard as I can, the snowball doesn't last long, burns up almost immediately. "I hated it. I was only an experiment, a number, to him, Subject-111. I named myself Daichi Akiyama when I was about five. As much as I love to test myself, I'd much rather fight enemies I at least have chances against. In my early days I'd fight people I'd have no chance against, all to improve my strength to where it is now. And more. So much more."

The sound of bones breaking, the smell of blood. Everything comes back again, taking me away from the peaceful present and into the bloody past.

I feel a hand on my shoulder.

I turn to see Clark looking at me concerned. "Daichi, you aren't there anymore, you're here, with me, with Jon, my Ma and Pa, Lois, and Donna," he squeezes his hand comfortingly. "Sorry for bringing it up."

I shake my head and quickly look away as I feel a tear threaten to drop from my right eye, I then wipe it away. "It wasn't your fault, you were curious, that's all."

"Still, I shouldn't have brought it up, you've mentioned in the past how bad your time with The Evolutionary was, I should've known bringing it up would've been bad," Clark continues to apologize.

I chuckle, Lois was right, he'd apologize no matter what. "Clark, seriously, it's all right," I then take a deep breath. "Is there any headway in the whole New Gods situation?"

Clark sighs. "Still nothing. Like John said, the New Gods aren't saying a thing about The Evolutionary. We've only recently gotten into contact with Mister Miracle and Big Barda, and they say it might be a challenge for even Scott to get in, get info, and get out."

"Those must be some tough defenses then. What did The Evolutionary do to them?" I wonder aloud.

"Mister Miracle wanted to ask you that," Clark replies. "When everything's calmed down and we get the chance, I'll make sure you can talk to them."

"That'd be great," I get up and wipe the snow off my pants. "So, what do you do on a farm in the winter anyway?"

Clark smiles before standing up. "Come on, I'll show you."

For the next few minutes, the three of us make snowmen, snow forts, and other snow things, Jonathan later joins and the three of us have a snowball free-for-all just before the ladies come back with the groceries. Donna has a large smile on her face as she heads inside holding practically all the bags in her two hands.

I look at her with an arched brow before turning to Lois. "What's with her?"

Lois just ruffles my hair. "You'll find out soon."

I look over at Clark, he just shrugs before picking up Jon and heading inside with the others.

They've got something planned, and I don't know how I feel about it.

* * *

A few hours later Clark, Donna, and I are putting on the finishing touches of our suits as we get a text from Dick over the group chat. Time to hit the Hive Five.

Donna checks the sharpness of her sword before nodding and sheathing it. "You ready to kick some ass?"

I extend my hand outward and some energy arcs along my arm before I rotate my arm. "Yeah," I turn to the adults and the baby. "Well, see you guys later."

"Good luck," Jonathan says.

"You two got this," Lois says as she puts a hand on each of our shoulders. "Make 'em regret messing with you. And Clark, whatever you Leaguers are planning, you'd better keep the kids safe."

Clark nods. "We don't need to; they can handle themselves."

"Of course we will," Donna replies with a smirk. "We should get going."

"Oh, before you leave be sure to tell Speedy thank you for the chili! Sorry you two won't have some though," Martha says.

"Yeah, it sucks," I hope that was convincing. I then activate my communicator. "Hey, WG and I are ready to teleport."

"Watchtower, I'm ready," Clark says at the same time.

"_Beamin' you up,"_ Garth replies.

All right, time to hit them where it hurts.

* * *

**Titans Tower **

Donna and I arrive to see Garth and Karen waiting next to the teleporters, their costumes on but her cowl's down. Garth and Donna fist bump before she and Karen side hug, I do the same with the two as we walk towards the mission room. "Everyone's here?" I ask.

"Everyone but Wally," Karen sighs. "Seriously man, if I had superspeed I'd never be late."

"It's how speedsters work," Donna replies with a shrug of her arms. "I heard Jay Garrick was the same with the Justice Society."

"It's totally the universe's way of compensating," Garth says as we enter the mission room.

I look around at the others waiting, Roy and I make eye contact before we both nod. Well, that's an improvement. Donna notices and bumps her uncovered shoulder into mine, I look to see a smile on her face, and she gives me a proud nod.

"You guys eat the chili?" Roy asks.

I shake my head. "They're eating it now."

"Lucky you. Man, I actually feel bad for the kid," Roy shakes his head in amusement.

Garth lightly elbows my other side and smirks before sitting between Lilith and Zatanna. "Sooo, Christmas, what's the plan?"

"Oh, Jonathan and Martha would like for the team to visit the Kent farm in the morning. We could stay there for a few hours before coming back here and exchanging gifts," Donna says.

The others look at each other and nod.

"Yeah, I'd say that sounds good," Dick agrees.

I tilt my head towards the outside of the room. "What sounds better is Wally in the elevator right now."

The others get serious and stretch their muscles as Wally races into the room. "Sorry I'm late! I just-"

"We get it, Wally, you're a speedster, that explains enough," Garth interrupts. "So, what's the plan?"

Dick and I stand next to the holographic screen as a map of the world appears, a few red dots appearing in certain places, a larger one in New York. "Thanks to the data I was able to learn the location of not just where the Hive Five are, but multiple possible safe houses for them. As you no doubt know, the League's getting ready as well, they plan to hit the other locations, while New York will be ours."

"That explains it," Zatanna comments.

"As expected, we can't just teleport into their base, we've gotta use the Javelin to get there," Dick nods to me.

I do my best to hold back a smile as I rub my hands. "We're gonna use stealth tech," Donna, Lilith, Garth, and Zatanna chuckle at my excitement. "Now, they're five of them, and ten of us, we'll hit most of them two on one, Robin here will sneak by and hack as much data as he can from them."

"Sounds good," Garth compliments. "Who's with who?"

"Garth, you and Wally will deal with the cloning guy. Your power and his speed can deal with him. Kory and Roy, Shimmer's your target. Roy can keep his distance and Kory's aerial superiority can help her avoid Shimmer's attacks. Zatanna and Donna will deal with the magic girl. Zatanna for obvious reasons, and Donna's more than capable for fighting magic beings. Lilith, Karen, Gizmo's yours. Karen, your genius can help take on his tech, Lilith's telepathy can cause Gizmo problems, and if he has a psionic shield, Karen can deal with it," I plan.

"And that leaves you against Mammoth," Wally says. "I actually wanna see this rematch. Hey, Garth, let's deal with Naruto real quick then watch Daichi's fight, I'll bring popcorn."

"I've got the drinks," Garth replies.

Karen looks between the two before looking at our resident mage, the two shrug.

"Daichi and Mammoth fought during our battle against the Fearsome Five. Pretty sure Mammoth wanted revenge when they attacked," Donna says as she notices their confusion.

"Oh, great, testosterone battle," Zatanna dryly comments. "Yaaay…"

"It is what it is," Dick shrugs. "Chances are their benefactor might be there, as well as your run-of-the-mill goons, so we still need to be careful regarding them," he looks around before nodding and putting on his domino mask, fully becoming Robin. "All right, let's go Teen Titans!"

Those with masks put them on as we exit the mission room and head towards the elevator. On the way there, Speedy walks to the back of the group, walking next to me. "Good luck with Mammoth."

"Good luck with Shimmer," I reply. "They won't escape. Not this time."

Speedy nods as we enter the elevator and head down to the hangar, on the way Robin's communicator activates. He presses some buttons on the holographic screen above his glove and Batman appears.

"The Justice League is currently moving out to the other locations for the Hive Five, New York will be under your jurisdiction," he begins. "The Justice Society will not be available to help, they're currently in Chong-Mai dealing with a nuclear crisis, so don't expect any assistance any time soon."

"We won't need it," Speedy confidently replies.

Batman hums. "We'll see," and he ends the call.

The ten of us are silent for a moment.

"Well, that couldn't have been more ominous, couldn't it?" Zatanna sarcastically asks.

"Batman would be great as a Tamaranean Shadow Hunter," Starfire comments. "They are what you would call our "black ops" unit."

"How do those guys work?" Omen asks.

"Oh, they do many things for the royal family. For example: when wanting to capture a target, they move amongst the shadows, killing anyone in their way after cutting off communications, they then capture their target, destroy the location of the mission, and bring the target to a designated location," Kory answers.

The elevator doors open and we walk over to the Javelin. "What happens to the target?" Omen asks.

"They are tortured, the plans in their head are forcibly extracted by a mind render, and then their husks are disposed of," Starfire answers.

We just stare at her as the Javelin ramp lowers. "Oh," Omen quietly replies.

"Let's not focus on that," I say as we all sit down in our seats. I then begin the flight sequence, and shortly after the Javelin launches outwards. The console has a map for our target location.

"Hey, how will we get there silently?" Zatanna asks. "The only reason the Hive Five got so close was 'cause they cloaked themselves from our radar."

Robin smirks and looks over his seat. "I'm doing the same thing here. Also helps that the Javelin can turn invisible."

"Wait, how?" Zatanna asks.

"Oh, that's thanks to the Amazons. We have a special metal that, when put under the right circumstances, can become entirely invisible. My sister's jet is what our Javelin is based on," Wonder Girl answers.

"The Invisible Jet's real!?" Bumblebee shouts in shock.

"Yeah," Wonder Girl simply answers.

The team continues to socialize during the flight, the entire time I'm silent, focusing entirely on the flight to New York.

Hive Five, you're gonna reap what you sow.

* * *

**And that's the end to chapter four. There's gonna be two more chapters to this arc, the next one being mainly about the battle between the Teen Titans and the Hive Five, whereas the following will be the aftermath and the setup to the next arc, which has been seen in this chapter. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people! **


	11. Bloodletting

**And the second to last chapter is here! **

**Thanks to this break I'm pretty sure the future arcs will come along sooner, but remember, life could just kick me in the teeth and change all those plans. See, the entire arc's already been written by the time this chapter goes up, so chances are I'm already writing the next arc by this point. If not that, then I'm writing one of my other stories. **

**Speaking of, if you haven't already, go check out **_**Triumphant!**_** It's a Ben 10/JLU crossover fanfic with an OC Omnitrix wielder. I think it's safe to say it's my most popular story, so why not check it out? It won't hurt. **

**Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**Bloodletting **

I feel giddy as I tap the center of the A (which is really an upside-down V) on my chest. After contact, the orange parts of my suit—the knuckles, elbows, the A, the sides, and the soles of my boots—become a dark gray whereas the navy blue stays the same.

I look over to see most of the others doing the same, Bumblebee, Robin, and Zatanna being the only ones that don't.

Wonder Girl's pants become black as the top half of her armor becomes gray, the stars on her pants becoming gray and the stars on her top becoming black. She notices me looking and does a quick spin before winking at me. I smile and give her a thumbs up. I can't wait until she comes back to these colors as Troia.

Aqualad—who's suit is exactly the same color wise as Wonder Girl's—has the same result, bottom half becomes black while top half becomes gray.

For Omen, the red of her suit becomes the dark gray color.

Like Wonder Girl and Aqualad, Kid Flash's suit becomes black and gray. But his boots and gloves match as well. So, his previously yellow boots become gray and his previously red gloves become black. His lightning bolt become black as well.

The light red parts of Speedy's armor becomes black, while the darker red becomes gray. He also chooses to leave his hat behind, since it isn't connected to the stealth tech.

The darker purple of Starfire's suit becomes black while the light purple becomes gray. Her silver bracers and necklace become charcoal gray as her green gems mute in color.

Zatanna mutters a spell, her white, strapless shirt becomes gray and her navy-blue blazer becomes black.

Thanks to her powers, Bumblebee doesn't have to worry about stealth tech, she's too small for anyone to notice the yellow torso of her suit.

Robin, well, I don't need to get started on his skill with stealth.

I land the Javelin a few hundred feet away from the small private academy the Hive Five are using as cover.

"Ooh, look at them, being good little students," Kid Flash jokes. "Wonder what their classes are like."

"Hostage situations 101 with Mr. Joker?" Zatanna adds with a snicker.

"DIY nukes with Major Force as the teacher?" Bumblebee adds as she lands on my shoulder.

"Dictatorship 2010! Black Adam is your professor!" Kid Flash says. The three of them break out in laughter as the others chuckle.

I shake my head with a smile before looking ahead, using my x-ray vision on the school. "All right, people, let's get serious."

"Sir, yes sir!" Kid Flash salutes. He then stands next to me and lowers his goggles, looking through the x-ray spectrum as well. "Nothing. You?"

"Looks like a normal school to me. They even have "students" sleeping in their dorms," I look in another one and regret it, I feel my face heat up in embarrassment. "Well, almost all of them."

"What'd you see?" Wonder Girl asks.

"Nothing!" I said that too fast, didn't I?

I notice her smirk, but before she can push, Robin steps forward. Thank you, little acrobat boy. "Well, they're here for sure. I got the blueprints to the building," a hologram pops up, we all lean in to get a better look. "They've got a high-speed elevator. Why have that for a three-floor building?"

"Want me to run in and cause a distraction?" Kid Flash says, ready to shoot forward at a moment's notice.

I shake my head. "No, we need to do this as quietly as possible. All those people in the school are most likely on their side. We don't want to deal with that many enemies."

"Apex is right," Robin agrees. "We'd be better off going as quiet as possible."

Kid Flash nods and gets out of his runner's position. "Got it. What now?"

Robin looks through the holograms. "Well, we can't exactly destroy the camera's, they'd know immediately," he turns to us with a smirk. "Buuut, the jet they used had some of their codes in it, codes I can use to loop the cameras, cover our entrance."

"And their other defenses?" Omen asks.

"Those can be circumnavigated, you guys just gotta follow my lead so we don't trip them on accident," Robin replies.

"Then the elevator's no problem?" Speedy asks as he rotates an arm and cracks his neck.

Robin smirks. "Nope, no problem," he looks at me. "Well second-in-command, it's your turn to say it."

I smirk and get ready to fly forward, the others do as well, Zatanna creates a platform for Robin and Speedy.

"All right, we all know the mission, we all know who our dance partners are, and we all know what could happen if things go wrong. Titans Together!"

* * *

The ten of us wait as the elevator doors ping. Aqualad and Wonder Girl slowly let the two guards down before dragging them into a nearby broom closet and hiding them in there. Once the doors open it reveals itself to be a rather massive elevator, more than capable of holding all of us, so, we enter.

Robin inputs a code, and the panel drops, revealing more buttons, he looks at the holographic screen before pressing B16, which happens to be in the middle. _"It's where the Hive Five are sleeping. According to the data, at least,"_ he telepathically explains.

"_I wanna punch Mammoth in the mouth," _Kid Flash thinks excitedly. We all look at him. _"What? I know you guys wanna. Hell, maybe Daichi would wanna do it more considering the hit he got in on Donna."_

_"He's not wrong,"_ I reply with a shrug.

Wonder Girl smiles and puts a hand on my shoulder. _"Thanks, but if anyone's gonna do it, it's me."_

"_Hey, remember the plan? Apex is dealing with Mammoth. Sorry," _Robin replies, though it's obvious he isn't sorry.

Wonder Girl pouts. _"Still think it's unfair."_

The elevator doors open. We all become serious as Zatanna whispers an invisibility spell that lets us get out of the elevator.

Once outside, we see two members to the Cult of Blood. They wear black robes with golden greaves, a red sash across their waist, the top half has a red line going through the center, the shoulders are red, and they have on golden gloves that end in claws. Over their faces they have golden masks that covers everything above their bottom lip. The masks are demonic and there are horns sticking out of the top.

We all avoid them as they look at each other, then inside the elevator. "The hell was that?" The one on the left asks.

"No idea," his partner replies.

They shrug and get back in position on either side of the elevator. The first guy then looks at his partner. "So? Batman vs Superman?"

"Batman. Easy."

We leave them behind before we can hear the rest of their conversation. I notice Robin looking at me with a smirk as we carefully walk through the hall. _"Hear that, Apex? Batman. Easy," _he taunts.

I roll my eyes with a smirk. _"If they were on equal footing, sure. But most of the time, Superman takes it."_

"_Boys,"_ Wonder Girl interrupts. _"As Apex would say "get serious","_ she then smirks. _"Besides, Wonder Woman would win."_

Robin and I go to reply, but before we can the door in front of us opens, out of it walks Billy Numerous, wearing shorts and a tank top as he yawns and scratches his left armpit.

We all blink and watch as he walks away before I nod to Aqualad and Kid Flash. The two nod in response and break off from the group, once out of range, they become visible again, but they quickly hide in the shadows of the dark hallway as they follow the cloning villain. They enter another room.

Okay, let's go.

I take lead again, the others follow.

"_Just saying, my Dad's a lot stronger than most people think," _Zatanna thinks. _"He'd be pretty hard to beat."_

"_Yeah, unless he gets a sore throat,"_ Bumblebee retorts.

Robin mentally chuckles. _"Got 'em."_

"_Manhunter could so kick ass," _Omen smugly states.

"_He actually could, a lot of people underestimate him,"_ Robin agrees. _"Hey, this is my stop. Apex, you're in charge."_

"_Got it, boss,"_ I reply as Robin breaks away, he becomes a blur that flies through the underground base.

We walk past two massive doors, I listen carefully, and on the other side I hear cackling. I raise a fist to get the others to stop before facing the door and using my x-ray vision. Well, there's our next target.

"_Omen, Bumblebee, Gizmo's in here. Be careful," _I tell them.

She nods. _"Take over the telepathic link,"_ I do so. _"Well, see you guys in a bit,"_ she and Bumblebee sneak in through the door, Gizmo's absorbed in his work, he doesn't even notice the door open.

"_Three more to go,"_ Wonder Girl thinks as she puts a hand on my shoulder.

The entire floor shakes. The rest of us share concerned glances, but looking at the Cult of Blood members, they don't seem to be concerned, so that helps. Another boom happens, shaking the floor again. The five of us quickly run to the source, the ground becoming less stable the closer we get, so Zatanna creates a platform for Speedy as the rest of us fly to the source.

We float outside two even larger doors, though they look like they're one poke away from falling down either way. I use my x-ray vision to look inside and nearly choke in surprise.

"_What? What is it?"_ Starfire questions.

"_Mammoth kind of became a Super Mammoth,"_ I answer.

"_What do you mean?"_ Starfire asks again.

"_You'll see,"_ I turn to her and Speedy. _"Shimmer's in here too."_

They nod, Starfire readies her star bolts and Speedy nocks an arrow.

"_Good luck, you three," _Wonder Girl says before kissing me on the cheek and flying down with Zatanna.

The invisibility drops, two of the cultists notice us, but Starfire and I knock them out with energy blasts to their chests. "Okay," I say aloud. "Three…two…one!"

I punch the doors inward. They fly towards the siblings, but just as it reaches them, they become steam, blinding us momentarily. I quickly swap to infrared vision and find Shimmer running to the back of the room, Mammoth runs to Speedy, intent on tackling him.

I fly in, one leg out, and kick Mammoth in the side of his head, sending him flying into a wall. I land on the ground and hiss in pain as my entire shin throbs in pain. I quickly look up at Speedy and Starfire. "Shimmer's heading through a back door! Get her!"

Speedy presses a button on his glove, the whites of his mask become red and he gets a bead on Shimmer just as she leaves the room. "Come on, Star!" The two then run and follow after Shimmer.

My leg heals up, but just as I get up a metal panel slams into me, sandwiching me between it and the wall behind me. I quickly shoot a burst of energy out, sending the panel back out, but two giant dents appear in it, slowing the panel down. It's then torn in half, Mammoth rears back and tosses one at me like a frisbee. Not taking the chance, I fly up as the panel cuts into the wall behind me. Man, that probably, might've, and could've cut me in half. I don't like being in half, it isn't fun.

The other one comes at me vertically, I vibrate, which has it phase through me. I then become solid and hit Mammoth with a powerful blast of my heat vision, I then quickly stop and fly down fists out, slamming them into the evolved metahuman's chest, the impact craters the ground beneath him.

Mammoth's now gargantuan hand wraps around my entire upper body, he squeezes my ribs as he slowly gets up, once on his feet, he slams his head into mine, causing pain to explode behind my eyes and blinding all my senses momentarily. Once everything comes back, I feel Mammoth lift me up before he slams me down to the ground. I cough up blood as I feel the ground crater beneath me. He then repeats one more time, I feel some of my ribs break this time.

How strong is he? Hell, who gave him this power boost?

Mammoth lifts me up and roars in my face, spittle hitting me. I groan as his intensely bad breath hits my superhuman smell. I grit my teeth before throwing my arms outwards, releasing myself from his grasp.

I then fly up and kick him in the jaw, sending him flying up and he hits the roof. Before he hits the ground, I hit him with a blast of ice breath, freezing him in a small glacier.

I land slowly and keep my eye on him as the bones in my upper body slowly mend back together.

Okay, so he's suddenly exponentially stronger and more durable, but what gave him the boost? Think, think… That's it! In the _Teen Titans_ cartoon, The Hive Five were under the employ of Brother Blood! So he had to have done something to them! Power boosts, I'd say, but how'd he do it? Oh, crap, the others. They need to-

The glacier explodes, ice chunks flying everywhere.

Mammoth lands on the ground, breathing heavily as he slowly gets up, glaring at me the entire time. He then slowly gets into a runner's position; one leg drags back a few times before he raises an arm up in a defensive position.

I take a deep breath as my final rib fixes itself; I then mimic his movements. The two of us are silent as we glare at each other, then, after a silent countdown, we shoot forward.

I fly under his first attack, I then push his other fist away, knocking him off balance. As he stumbles, I hit him with a punch to the neck, which has him choke and grasp at it. I then drop down and kick him in the abdomen, but he recovers quickly and grabs my leg, squeezing it and nearly breaking the bone. Mammoth then jumps high in the air, his arm holding my leg up, as he falls, he swings his arm downwards, slamming me into the ground and parting the floor beneath me. The damage streaks along the ground and goes up the wall, causing a screen to fall down, sparks explode as it hits the ground.

Mammoth raises his fists, ready to slam them into me. I open my mouth and roar, an explosive blast of energy shoots out of my mouth and slams into Mammoth, the explosion sends him flying off of me. Mammoth then lands on the floor but quickly gets up, his body smoking from the attack.

I growl and clench my fists, energy building off of them. Okay, holding back a little less now.

I punch the ground, a wave of energy travels forward and quickly moves towards Mammoth, but he avoids it quickly, which would normally surprise me, but considering what I've seen in the sixteen years of my second life, nothing really surprises me anymore.

I fly towards Mammoth, an energy coated fist reared back. Mammoth gets ready and rears a fist back as well. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the door open, but just as it does I throw an uppercut, Mammoth punches downwards, our fists scrape across each other and our arms drag along each other, the connection creates an explosion that sends the cultists flying back and absolutely destroys the room.

The ground breaks beneath us, revealing the floor beneath us. I look down to see a massive pool of what looks suspiciously like blood below us, at one end of the room is a black and gold altar. The hell is this?

As we fall, Mammoth grabs me by the head and punches my body with his other fist, leading to pain blossoming out from every hit. I manage to get my arms out and slap both sides of his elbow, freeing my arm and momentarily disabling his arm, while he's stunned, I punch his face with an energy coated punch, the explosion sends him flying down fast. Mammoth slams into the ground, a massive pool of the red liquid shoots up and drenches me.

Yeah, it's blood all right. Don't wanna know how they got this much.

I fly down with my legs out, attempting to stomp Mammoth, instead, he grabs my leg, and swings me over, drowning me in the blood pool, thankfully I don't need to breath, doesn't make this any better though.

I explode with a burst of concussive energy, sending Mammoth and the blood flying back. Mammoth slams into the altar from the sound of it. I then get out of the blood and shake my head, getting the blood out of my hair. Maybe I should cut it, long hair can be a pain to deal with sometimes.

Nah, I like my hair long.

I narrowly avoid a massive, golden spear thrown by Mammoth. I look over to see him getting ready to throw another one. I stand still and glare at him, I then vibrate, the second spear phases through me, before it gets far I grab it. Mammoth roars before leaping towards me, I reach back and swing the spear like a baseball bat, sending him flying through the wall to my left.

I fly through the hole, but then Mammoth punches my face, which sends me flying into the ceiling, he then grabs me by my abdomen and throws me to the ground, and the metal floor ripples, knocking over many of the cultists in the area.

Mammoth then drops, attempting to stomp on me, instead I use my telekinesis, I then slowly get up and swing him around, and I slam into the floor multiple times before creating a sledgehammer out of my energy and hitting Mammoth in the side of the face.

The hit sends him flying down the hallway, the panels on the walls ripping off as he flies by.

My communicator activates. _"Hey, this is Robin. I just wanna say: it's pretty hard hacking their tech when I gotta fight back cultists _and _deal with a magnitude twenty earthquake! What the hell's going on!?"_

"Sorry, that's me," I apologize as I hear Mammoth run towards me. I get the sledgehammer ready again. "Mammoth got a power boost. He's a lot stronger and tougher than when you guys fought him."

The sound of combat and echoes of laughter comes over the call. _"Yeah!" _Kid Flash shouts. _"This Billy Numerous guy just used Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu! He could only make three last time!"_

"_The same can be said for Gizmo,"_ Omen says. _"He doesn't even use his gauntlet to control his tech anymore. I think he's a technopath. It's possible they've all gotten increases to their powers."_

I swing the hammer, hitting Mammoth's face and causing some of his hardened hide to break off. As Mammoth flies into another room I pick up the piece of his hide. This could be a souvenir; I'll give it to Kid.

Actually, that'd be a weird souvenir. I toss is behind me.

"_I think you're right, Omen. Zee, watch out!"_ Wonder Girl shouts. She's silent for a moment before continuing. _"Jinx's spells are far more powerful than last time."_

"Robin, find out what you can about their power boost. I gotta go, Mammoth really doesn't know how to stay down," I deactivate my communicator just as Mammoth's massive fist punches through the wall and hits me, sending me through the wall behind me and into a hangar.

I fly through a jet, causing it to explode, which in turn knocks over two other jets. This is getting out of hand. I growl before getting out of the wreckage, I telekinetically push away the cultists, knocking them all out as Mammoth jumps down into the hangar.

He roars, and the cavern shakes in response.

I sigh before getting in my combat stance.

"This is gonna take a while."

* * *

**Speedy and Starfire**

The two run through the door, Speedy sees Shimmer run down the first left. "Come on!" He shouts before following after her, Starfire flies next to him. Speedy grunts in annoyance as the ground shakes below him, causing him to stumble and nearly fall over. "Dammit," Starfire swoops in and lifts hum under his armpits. "Thanks, Star."

"Of course, my friend," she responds with a nod. "Now, let us capture our prey."

"Yeah, let's do that," Speedy nods.

The two quickly catch up with Shimmer as she attempts to go through another set of doors. Starfire swings Speedy back before throwing him forward, the archer then kicks Shimmer with both legs into the room, revealing itself to be a science lab.

"Oh, seriously?" Speedy asks incredulously.

"Seriously," Shimmer responds. She slams her hand into the ground, turning it into air, which has Speedy fall through the sudden space below him.

When he's halfway through the floor, she attempts to turn it into stone, hoping to cut him in half, instead, Starfire flies in and takes him away just as the floor becomes solid again.

Speedy rolls to a knee and shoots a boxing glove arrow. It manages to get Shimmer across the face, which has her spin in place and grunt in pain as her jaw explodes in pain. Starfire then flies in and kicks Shimmer across the face, sending her flying across the room.

Shimmer slowly gets up and grabs a beaker, an unknown, blue fluid in it. She smirks before tossing it at Starfire, the liquid transforms into acid midair. The Tamaranean Princess quickly dodges, but the acid manages to get the bottom of her boot, burning away the heel of her boot.

"Those were my favorite boots!" Starfire cries out as she flies.

Shimmer then slams her hand into the ground, transforming it into ice. Speedy leaps on a table and shoots an arrow, the head splits to reveal it as a bola arrow. It wraps around Shimmer's body and traps her. But not for long. Using her enhanced powers, she turns the rope into water, freeing herself easily.

Starfire swoops in and kicks Shimmer in the face with the now uncovered sole of her foot, sending the enhanced metahuman flying back into the wall behind her. The same wall quickly becomes a noxious fume that cause Starfire great discomfort and forces Speedy to quickly put on his rebreather.

The fume creates a smoke screen that blinds the two, but Speedy's mask quickly switches to infrared, letting him see the multitude of Cult of Blood members moving in on their position. He quickly shoots a flashbang arrow between them and Starfire comes back to the room, where the fumes are weaker due to the room's safety systems kicking in.

"You okay?" He asks Starfire.

She coughs and rubs the tears out of her eyes before nodding. "Yes. But I will be better once Shimmer is defeated."

Speedy nods before noticing a backdoor. "Come on, we can escape through here."

A cultist manages to peek over the table the two are using as cover and nearly stabs Speedy in the shoulder, Starfire notices and grabs the man by the wrist, and then throws him into a cabinet of chemicals, spilling them all over the place.

Speedy and Starfire then duck and run through the door, avoiding throwing knives. Just as Speedy closes the door, a knife stabs through it, nearly getting him in the face.

"There she is!" Starfire shouts, she then hurries after Shimmer, Speedy runs after her.

"Yeah, stealth kind of went to shit," Speedy says into the communicator as he jumps over a cultist and kicks her in the face.

"_Apex kinda made sure of that,"_ Kid Flash snarks. _"Isn't that right, Apex?" _

The Vitruvian Man doesn't answer, which greatly worries Wonder Girl.

"_Daichi?"_ She asks.

"_Busy!"_ Is all he says, followed closely by a massive shaking of the entire building, something that nearly knocks Speedy over, but any cultists in the area are knocked down, Shimmer as well, giving the two ample chance to catch up with her.

"Robin, how's the data gathering?" Speedy asks as he, Starfire, and Shimmer arrive in an empty, massive room.

"_I've got a lot of crazy psychos to deal with! Call back in a bit!" _The Boy Wonder replies.

Starfire barely avoids spikes of metal thrown at her by Shimmer, she then lands in front of Shimmer and gets in a boxing stance, finding that now's as good a time as any to test Wildcat's training. And to give Speedy the perfect chance to take Shimmer down.

Starfire goes for a right hook that Shimmer barely dodges, the Tamaranean Princess pushes the attack and slams a fist into Shimmer's gut, while her enemy's down, Starfire grabs the sides of Shimmer's head and headbutts her, sending Shimmer stumbling back.

Shimmer shakes her head before growling and slamming her foot down, turning the ground below her into ice. She then leans forward and pushes Starfire back, and thanks to her missing heel, Starfire stumbles back and falls down flat as she slides away.

Speedy nocks a fire arrow and shoots it at the ground, which quickly melts the ice and surrounds Shimmer in a ring of fire, trapping her. Speedy then nocks an electric arrow and shoots it at the puddle of water, electrocuting Shimmer, but the enhanced meta quickly jumps out of the puddle and through the flames, getting out of danger.

Shimmer cries out in pain as she hurriedly shifts her burning sleeves into water, dousing the flames and soothing her burns. But this relief doesn't last long. Starfire hits the ground next to her by lobbing a star bomb at her feet, the explosion sends Shimmer back. While on the ground, the Australian meta shifts the floor beneath her into air, letting her fall down to the next floor.

"You guys really aren't the best at catching me, are you?" She taunts as she falls.

Speedy and Starfire groan in annoyance as they look over the hole to see Shimmer running away, though there is a noticeable limp from her right leg.

"She's a slippery as a dune rat in the Cragtus Desert," Starfire mutters angrily.

"I guess they're slippery," Speedy replies with a sigh as he jumps down the hole, landing on a mattress Shimmer created to catch her fall.

"Very," Starfire answers as she floats down next to him. "We need to hit her with a pincer maneuver, stop her chances of escape."

Speedy nods. "Agreed. I'll be on her tail; think you can find a way around?"

Starfire tilts her head in confusion. "She has a tail? I did not know. Where does she hide it?"

"No, not like literally, it's a figure of speech," Speedy sighs. "Come on! We're wasting time!"

Starfire nods before flying the opposite direction, having noticed that the area they are in is circular.

Speedy takes a deep breath before following after Shimmer. He knocks out some cultists in his way before catching up to Shimmer. He shoots an arrow through the shin of her uninjured leg, and she cries out in pain and stumble to the ground as Starfire appears from the other side, star bolts ready.

Speedy smirks as he gets a net arrow ready. "Well, looks like we've caught you."

Shimmer growls at him as she drags herself to the nearby door. "I wouldn't be too sure of that, boy," the doors then open, letting three heavily armed cultists come running out, a fourth drags Shimmer into the room.

"Oh for-!" Speedy dodges a swipe from a sword and fires the net arrow, though it's cut by the cultist going after him, the other two see Starfire as the bigger threat due to her powers.

Starfire manages to catch one of the swords, the blade leaves a cut, some blood drips from it. She then pulls the cultist in and headbutts him, after which she falls down low to avoid a horizontal swipe from the other cultist and spins around, tripping them both. She then flips over and stomps on both of their chests, the one hit by her soleless shoe takes less damage, but their armor helps them by taking the brunt of the attack.

As she fights the two, Speedy is locked in a battle with his cultist, using his bow as a staff to block the sword strikes. _'I should make the edges of my bow sharp,'_ Speedy thinks while the two are locked in a clash, trying to push the other back.

Speedy then ducks down, suddenly breaking out of the clash and sending his opponent stumbling forward. He then tackles the cultist and slams him into a wall, while his opponent is dazed, Speedy punches him across the face twice, but quickly comes to regret it due to the helmet.

But this doesn't deter him, Speedy instead continues the onslaught, his vision slowly becoming red as he doesn't see the cultist, instead, he begins to see-

"Roy!"

A hand quickly stops him from throwing another punch. Speedy looks back to see Starfire's concerned gaze on him. "Roy, he is defeated, there is no need for you to continue."

He looks behind her to see the other two knocked out, one indented in the wall and the other laying on the ground, smoke coming from his body. Speedy then looks back at his enemy, the golden mask dented, blood also seeps from the holes for the nostrils and from the bottom of the mask.

Speedy takes a deep breath before shakily getting up, ignoring Starfire, and avoiding any chance of looking at the cultist. "Come on," he says blankly as he heads towards the door Shimmer is currently behind.

Starfire puts a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. "Was that about Daichi?"

Speedy's eyes widen momentarily before he glares and forces Starfire's hand off his shoulder. "Let's go, the longer we wait, the more chance Shimmer has to recover."

Starfire looks at him in worry before sighing and nodding. "Just aim your rage at them. I will make sure you do not go too far."

Speedy stays silent as he stands in front of the door and mentally counts to three. At three, he kicks the door down and rolls in, ready to shoot an arrow when he stares wide-eyed in shock.

The remaining cultist is dead on the floor, their armor gone as Shimmer now wears their armor, but the gold is now silver, and the red is now black, though she forgoes the mask. In one hand she holds the same blade they once held, in her other is a glass blade, and neither of the teenage heroes want to test it.

Shimmer smirks as she brings the two blades together, having them travel down each other, creating some sparks from the union that bounce to the ground. "So, wanna try catching me now?"

Speedy sighs. "I hate today."

* * *

**Aqualad and Kid Flash**

The two hop from shadow to shadow as they trail Billy Numerous, who seems to be completely oblivious to the two heroes hunting him down. Any Cult of Blood members in their way are silently taken out by Aqualad and Kid Flash.

Kid Flash stands next to Aqualad as the two watch him go into a bathroom. They look in confusion before sharing a glance. "Why not use the one in his room?" Kid Flash whispers.

Aqualad shrugs before smirking. "No clue," his eyes glow blue. "But I've got one hell of an idea."

Aqualad does some movements with his hand before the light fades away. It takes a moment, but shortly after, a loud burst of water is heard, Billy shouts out in surprise. "AW HELL NO!" Things are silent for a moment before another burst of water sounds out. "GAWDDAMIT!"

Aqualad chuckles, and Kid Flash turns to look at him. "What'd you do?"

"I flooded the toilet and had the sink explode," he points at the floor below the door. "Look."

Kid Flash looks to see the water pooling in the hallway. He chuckles silently as the two fist bump.

Billy stumbles out of the bathroom, now angered as he stumbles though the water, the back of his pants drenched, as well as his entire front.

Billy growls and heads over to his room, walking by two of the cultists on his way. Aqualad has the water attack the two before he and Kid Flash follow. They arrive at his door, they nod at each other and Kid Flash sticks his foot into the door just before it closes, the sudden presence forces the door to open.

Kid Flash and Aqualad get ready to fight, but their eyes widen in surprise once they see the inside of the room.

They don't find one Billy or even four Billys, instead they see multiple. Some are playing video games, others are working out, a few are playing Uno, and one is forced out of the bathroom, barely having time to put on his pants as the Billy they followed enters the bathroom to change.

The Billys all stop and stare at the intruders, the two heroes stare back wide-eyed. Kid Flash slowly takes his foot out of the doorway, letting the door close. The two then share a quick glance before looking back at the door.

"Shit," they both whisper.

The door quickly opens, and an army of Billys comes piling out of the door, all falling atop each other as they get closer to the two.

Aqualad quickly gathers the water from the nearby bathroom and a small flood comes down the hallway, sending many of the Billys down the hallway. The water knocks over the cultists as well.

"We should run!" The Atlantean suggests.

"That's my specialty!" The speedster replies.

The two run down the hallway, Kid Flash nearly slips a few times due to the water. "Gah, I need to add traction for water to these boots," he groans as he jumps over a Billy.

"You didn't before?" Aqualad asks as he kicks a recovering Billy in the face, knocking him out.

"These things were made to deal with uneven terrain, Keystone and Central City never had this much water on the ground at one time," Kid Flash replies. "This right!"

The two turn the corner and enter a gym, various workout equipment all over the place. Aqualad quickly notices how large the room is, which can help both of them, but it can also help Billy.

"Well, this helps us," Kid Flash mutters. "But it helps him, too."

"Indeed it does, partnah!"

The two turn around to see ten Billys waiting in the doorway, all smirking as they slowly move in to surround the two in a half-circle. "All this space? Perfect for testin' out mah improved powers, don't ya think?"

Aqualad raises his fists and Kid Flash gets in a runner's position. "Perfect for us, too," Aqualad replies.

To prove his point, the water cooler in the corner of the room acts up, followed closely by a burst of water that knocks one clone off his feet. His head hits the edge of one of the treadmills, the clone then glows red and the light flies into the Billy in the center.

Kid Flash and Aqualad quickly share a glance, the two smirk. Now they have a target.

The main Billy points at the two with a glare. "BILLY BATTLE!"

Kid Flash quickly deadpans as the Billys swarm them. "Seriously? "Billy Battle"?" He dodges a punch from a clone and hits it with a barrage of punches. "That is so ass."

"Less insulting more fighting!" Aqualad shouts as he headbutts a clone and smashes the heads of two together. Aqualad weaves through another punch and uppercuts his attacker, knocking the clone out in one strike. His enemy becomes red light again and flies to the original Billy.

Kid Flash nods as his face becomes serious. He then runs through the clones, the original being his target, but the original creates a multitude of new clones, quickly pushing Aqualad and Kid Flash back, which also lets the original Billy hide again.

Aqualad growls as many Billys tackle him and keep him pinned down. A few kick and punch him as he's prone, the hits actually sting a little, but they mostly annoy him.

"Come on, boys! We gon' have ourselves seafood tonight!" A clone shouts.

"I'm. Not. FISH!" Aqualad shouts as he sends them all flying back with a concussive spell, that manages to knock many of them out, many lights of red streak over to a Billy running at Aqualad, a barbell in his hands ready to slam into the Atlantean's head.

Billy manages to hit Aqualad in the head, the hit causes his ear to ring loudly as a stinging sensation overcomes the side of his head. Two Billys then tackle him over a treadmill, and a third turns it on to its max setting.

Aqualad shouts as he's launched across the room.

Kid Flash barely avoids his teammate as a punching bag is swung into him, knocking him off balance. The Fastest Kid Alive quickly recovers and kicks away one clone and elbows another in the throat.

"At least he doesn't have his suit this time!" Kid Flash shouts as he punches another in the gut, but then one of them grabs him by the waist and leans back, getting the speedster with a suplex.

While they're both down, the Billy elbows Kid Flash in the face, dazing the speedster, he then gets up and begins to choke Kid Flash.

The speedster grabs Billy's wrists and tries to take his hands off his neck as two more clones kick him in the sides, making it harder for him to escape Billy's grasp.

The edges of Kid's vision becomes black as the air slowly leaves his lungs, he looks over to see Aqualad busy with his own small platoon of clones. Kid Flash tries punching the Billy choking him in the face but is to weak to do even that. So, he tries to do something he's never done before.

He tries to phase.

Kid Flash slowly closes his eyes and slows down his breathing as he focuses entirely on himself, Billy's hands, and the kicks from his clones seem to fade away. Kid Flash then slowly thinks of the lessons told to him by Jay, Barry, and Daichi about phasing.

"_Phasing can be scary," Uncle Barry had admitted during their first practice session. "Your molecules separate slightly, putting you in a space between solid and gas that isn't liquid. Doing this allows for you to pass through objects," to prove his point, Uncle Barry's hand phased through the thin sheet of metal in his other hand. _

"_But what if you stop?" A younger Wally had asked. "I mean, no two solid objects can be in the same space."_

_Uncle Barry nods as he takes his hand out of the metal. "It will hurt. A lot," he puts his hands on Wally's shoulders, looking his nephew in the eyes. "But you can't be scared, Wally. If you want to phase, you have to learn to let go. Let go just enough that you're in two states, but not so much that you disappear. Do you understand?"_

_Wally nods. "Y-yeah." _

_Uncle Barry smiles before putting the metal in between them. "Good. Then let's test it out." _

'_Let go, Wally,'_ he feels his body become light, the ground seems to be a part of him, and yet, it doesn't. _'But remember what keeps you here. What keeps you tethered,'_ memories of time spent with Dick, Garth, Roy, Donna, Lilith, Kory, Daichi, Karen, and Zatanna comes to mind. Jay and Joan. Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, Dawn and Henry. Mom and Dad.

"OW! GODDAMN!" He hears.

Kid Flash opens his eyes to see himself halfway through the floor, he looks down to see Apex flying down the hallway, followed closely by a massive blur. He looks back up to see the Billy who was choking him out lean back holding his hands tightly, glaring at the speedster.

Kid Flash smirks as he stands back up. "So, that's what phasing's like. Awesome."

"That's it! Ah've had it up to here with both of yous!" The original Billy shouts, halting all combat.

Kid Flash and Aqualad look around to see only a few Billy's left, all of them slowly returning to the original, who happens to be glaring at them. As he glares, the two hear their communicators activate just after a massive shaking occurs, Robin complains about the current environment he's working in.

Apex quickly replies, mentioning Mammoth's power-up.

The Billys then do the signature Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu hand sign, and the two are temporarily blinded as the room is flooded in red light. Their vision clears, and they find themselves surrounded by multiple Billys.

Yeah!" Kid Flash shouts. "This Billy Numerous guy just used Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu! He could only make three last time!"

The others reply their findings as the Billys all begin to charge the two.

Aqualad quickly creates a bubble shield that holds the small army of one back.

"How long can you hold this?" Kid Flash asks as a Billy slams into the shield with some dumbbells.

"Not sure," Aqualad admits. "He's got some low-level superhuman strength. Normally he wouldn't be able to break the shield, but with how many clones he has now…"

"Right," Kid Flash sighs. "This is gonna be a bitch to deal with."

Suddenly everything begins to shake, and violently at that. Aqualad and Kid Flash barely manage to keep their balance as the Billys are all knocked onto their asses. The shaking then stops, but then an extremely loud sound quickly approaches them. The two look to see the wall to their right tear apart, but that's not the worst of it.

The ground breaks open.

The bubble-shield doesn't have a bottom, so Aqualad and Kid Flash fall with all the Billys to the next floor. The air is filled with screams as all the young men scream as they fall from one floor to the next. After a few seconds in the air, they all hit the ground.

Billy and his clones are all knocked out, the red lights moving to the original signify that. Aqualad groans in pain as he slowly gets up. Thanks to his cowl, Kid Flash is only nearly knocked out instead of knocked unconscious, but he quickly recovers and slowly sits up, rubbing the back of his head as he groans in pain.

"Mom always said falling from high heights was bad for my health," Kid Flash says as he gets up with Aqualad's help. "Now I understand."

"You understand nothing, boy."

The two turn around to see Brother Blood glaring down at them from the top of a staircase, four heavily armed, special cultist guards flanking him, wearing white and red armor with gold accents.

Blood looks at Billy with undisguised disgust. "Hm, even with my gift, he lost to an Atlantean and a speedster. Pathetic."

Aqualad and Kid Flash slowly get into fighting stances. "Who the hell are you?" The former demands.

Brother Blood tilts his head as he studies Aqualad, he then slowly smirks. "I am Brother Blood. These are my White Cells, they will kill you," Brother Blood turns around and heads walks through the door, but halfway through he turns his head. "Don't damage their bodies too much, I wish to study them, especially the speedster."

Once the door closes, the White Cells rush the two teenage heroes.

Kid Flash sighs as he brings his fists up. "This is gonna be a long night."

* * *

**Wonder Girl and Zatanna**

"You think Daichi's okay?" Wonder Girl asks worried.

Zatanna looks at her with an arched brow. "Seriously? Is Daichi okay? We are talking about the same guy who bench pressed the Javelin with all of us in it with his left hand, right? The same guy who can bounce back from basically anything, Daichi?"

Wonder Girl nods. "Yeah, the same Daichi who spent fifteen years in space, where the threats there are different from the ones here. The same Daichi who fought mostly controlled battles. Here, controlled battles are rare, and Mammoth definitely isn't in the mood for one."

Zatanna looks at her in understanding as she puts a hand on the Amazon Princess' shoulder. "You're worried for your boyfriend, I get it. But WG, Apex can handle himself, trust me. Trust him."

Wonder Girl still doesn't seem convinced, the massive shaking doesn't help. Zatanna puts a hand on her shoulder, cutting off the Amazon from any more worried concerns. "Let's take out Jinx. Then we can help Apex, all right?"

Wonder Girl nods with a thankful smile. "All right."

The spell is suddenly dispersed, making the two visible in the middle of the hallway.

They look around quickly and turn around to see Jinx standing behind them, her eyes and her tattoos glowing pink as a magic circle floats in front of her right hand. "And what makes you so sure you can beat me?"

"W-what the hell? How'd you do that?" Zatanna demands. "You were nowhere near this powerful yesterday!"

Jinx shrugs. "I got a little…upgrade," as she says this the two heroes notice a tint of red quickly flash in her eyes.

Zatanna's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh hell. She's magically enhanced. Crap, the others are too, probably, we should warn-"

Jinx fires a bolt of mystic energy at Zatanna, Wonder Girl stands in between it and her friend and crosses her arms together, her bracelets deflect the bolt back at Jinx, narrowly avoiding its caster.

Wonder Girl glares at Jinx as she ignores the shaking. "Even more reason to take her down fast."

Wonder Girl then flies forward and attempts to punch Jinx, but a hastily made shield manages to block her, through spider web-like cracks quickly spread among the magic construct. Wonder Girl then pushes the attack and kicks the shield, but Jinx manages a spell that hits Wonder Girl back with equal force, making the Darkstar feel as though she were kicked by herself.

Zatanna barely manages to duck from her flying friend's form before having to roll out of the way from a crow created by Jinx. "Okay, let's see how your loan handles the real deal.** Redrum fo sworc!" **

A massive number of crows erupt from a magic circle in front of Zatanna's hands, all flying beak-first to Jinx's shield.

As expected, many are pushed back, but that's all according to Zatanna's plan. A small amount of the crows use their brethren as cover as they flank the other side of Jinx's shield, attacking her from behind. Jinx shouts in pain as she's pecked by multiple birds, and due to the loss of concentration, the shield breaks, letting the others attack.

Wonder Girl flies back and rubs her stomach painfully. "Gods, I kick hard. What's up with the birds?"

"Oh, just my way of showing I'm more powerful," Zatanna smugly answers.

A pink light builds in the center of the birds, catching their attention. It slowly becomes more intense, and a high-pitched whining noise is all they hear. Their eyes widen as Zatanna quickly puts up a shield, and shortly after, the light explodes, destroying many of the birds and sending the heroines skidding back.

"Wanna say that again?" Jinx growls as she wipes blood off of her cheek.

Zatanna blinks in surprise before smirking. "I'm more powerful."

"Uh, Zatanna?" Wonder Girl whispers. "What're you doing?"

"If she's angry, she can't focus, if she can't focus, she can't cast spells as effectively," Zatanna whispers back. "Mage Fighting 101."

"Ah," Wonder Girl nods.

Jinx growls as she grits her teeth and clenches her fists at her sides. "I'll show you powerful!"

A large bolt of energy flies from her hands, impacting Zatanna's shield and shattering it immediately, sending the two flying back, thankfully, Zatanna and Wonder Girl manage to recover midair to barley avoid two arcing waves of energy flying at them.

Wonder Girl manages to block small arrows of magic before flying in close, but then Jinx's hand glows pink just before a pipe suddenly bursts from the wall next to Wonder Girl and spews water into her face, surprising her greatly and causing her to choke on water. As she sputters, Jinx hits her with a blast of concussive force, sending the Amazonian Princess skidding back against the wall.

"**Erif!" **Zatanna shouts. A massive gout of flames shoots at Jinx, but then a draft comes in from out of nowhere and pushes the flames back to Zatanna. The young magician yelps as she jumps back, she notices some strands of her hair are burnt.

From the flames comes a constructed fist that punches into Zatanna and sends her skidding back on the ground. Zatanna slowly gets up with Wonder Girl's help and coughs up some blood as she rubs her chest. "That hurt. That hurt a lot."

"Oh, it'll hurt more, weakling. Trust me," Jinx threatens as water pipes break through the walls and snake around her like living tendrils.

"Yeah, you said she'd be easier to fight when angry. Looking like the complete opposite right now," Wonder Girl comments as she slowly brings her hands up in defense. "Damn, the hallways aren't big enough for my sword and shield."

"Well, not all magicians, mages, warlocks, and assorted magic users work the same," Zatanna replies as she creates some magic short swords. "Time to see if your lessons really settled in, yeah?"

The water pipes come flying in at the two.

Wonder Girl moves her head to the side to avoid one and manages to catch another in her hand, she then squeezes tightly, which has the water build up in the pipe. She then tears the pipe in half and throws it into another, pinning it to the wall. Wonder Girl then barely avoids another pipe as it strikes the ground she was just standing on, she then kicks it up towards the ceiling, raining some dust down.

As she fights, Zatanna has a harder time avoiding the pipes against her, so she creates little shields that protect her when a pipe attempts a strike, focusing entirely on the offense. But with each hit, her defenses slowly wane.

While a pipe recoils from hitting a shield, Zatanna manages to stab through it, she then jerks her arm, hitting an incoming tendril with it, knocking both off balance, though the water does manage to drench her clothes, she's just glad her makeup doesn't run as well.

Zatanna swipes at a pipe that goes for her, but while her arm is outstretched it wraps around it and squeezes tightly, the magic short sword in that hand fades away due to the pain. She cries out in pain as the grip tightens. Just as she feels like her arm is going to break, Wonder Girl flies in and tears the pipe in two, freeing Zatanna's arm.

"Thanks," the magician nods as she rubs her forearm.

"No problem," Wonder Girl replies as her she shakes the water out of her hair, her ponytail comes undone. "We need to take her out fast, reinforcements are coming, and they aren't friendly."

The three hear footsteps running to them, all armored, Jinx smirks as the pipes slowly come back up and circle around her. "Outnumbered and outgunned. Not the best day for you guys, is it?"

"I think I know a place to take us," Zatanna whispers. **"Ecalpemos teiuq."**

The two are teleported away just as the cultists arrive on their location. Wonder Girl looks around to find them in an empty library, the lights currently off. She takes a breath and crouches down as Zatanna falls over to a knee.

"You okay?" Wonder Girl asks in concern.

"Yeah, just," Zatanna grimaces as she mutters a healing spell. "She's a lot stronger than expected. Stronger than me."

Wonder Girl notices the pain behind Zatanna's eyes, she nods in understanding and puts a hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting smile. "I get it, it's not fun fighting someone magnitudes stronger than you, I mean, I fight Ares every now and again, and at his full power he'd probably toss me aside. But think about it like this: you beat her, you prove strength isn't everything. Besides, you've got me with you, she doesn't."

Zatanna smiles and quickly hugs Wonder Girl in thanks. "You're right, Don. And hey, I've got more skill, I noticed that when she casted her spells. A sudden power boost without any training is dangerous for a mage," her eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, we can use that against her!"

"How so?" Wonder Girl asks.

"One of the first things were taught is to control how much mana we put in spells. Put in too much, and you tire yourself out, off to dreamland like that," Zatanna snaps her fingers in emphasis.

"And because she's suddenly stronger, she doesn't know how much mana to put into her spells," Wonder Girl nods as she catches on.

"Exactamundo," Zatanna shoots some finger guns. The doors to the library open. "Hide!"

The two quickly dart behind some giant bookcases as Jinx and some cultists enter the library, one of them turns on the lights. Jinx looks around with a critical eye. "They're in here. Find them."

Wonder Girl, currently on top of a bookcase, notices a cultist look at her from the corner of his eye in disdain before shaking his head and following her order. _'Looks like someone doesn't have the love of their troops. We can use this.'_

Wonder Girl looks over to see Zatanna standing over an adjacent bookcase, the two come to the same conclusion: Jinx is power, no real skill outside of her specialty, and she doesn't have a good relationship with the cultists.

Zatanna looks down to see two cultists in front of Wonder Girl's bookcase. She looks over at the Amazonian Princess and points at them, getting a nod in response. Wonder Girl flips off the bookcase, which also manages to knock it over and pin the two down.

Jinx and the cultists quickly run to the location, but Wonder Girl already managed to fly away to another corner of the library, out of sight.

Jinx growls and looks around. "What are you idiots doing? FIND THEM!"

"Quiet in the library!" Wonder Girl says as she flies through the enemies in a gray and black blur, knocking three out before flying away back to cover.

Jinx growls and walks through the library, hunting for Wonder Girl, but as she walks, she goes past the bookcase Zatanna is above, triggering the trap. The bookcase falls over and pins down Jinx and knocks out the remaining cultist.

With them down, Zatanna and Wonder Girl fly down and stand in front of Jinx, the latter has her blade and shield out, finding the library big enough for her to use her gear. "More space, more chance to show your power, yeah?"

Jinx's hands glow as they slam into the ground, sending the bookcase flying and many books flying towards them. Zatanna hides behind Wonder Girl as the Amazonian Princess puts up her shield, blocking many of the books. Once the barrage stops, she and Zatanna fly in opposite directions as Jinx fires a bolt of lightning at their previous position.

"**Daer, xniJ!"** Zatanna chants.

Multiple books rise from around the library and all fly towards Jinx's face, open on random pages. A few manage to hit her in the face, breaking her concentration and making her more and more angry.

Jinx shouts in rage as a thesaurus slams into her face, breaking her nose. **"ENOUGH!"** A small ball of energy just in front of her chest quickly grows outwards and explodes, sending many of the books back, a few manage to hit Zatanna just before she manages to hide behind a table.

"Come on, Jinx! Don't you read your spell books?" Zatanna taunts as she rolls out of the way of a magic axe. "If you did, your spells would be a lot more effective!"

"Shut up!" Jinx shouts. "I don't need any training! All of this power? I was born with it!"

"You sure about that?" Wonder Girl shouts as she flies over feet out, ready to kick Jinx.

Jinx manages to use her specialty magic. A cultist wakes up and raises his head as he rubs it, but at that moment, he gets in Wonder Girl's path, which then leads to the Amazonian Princess kicking him instead, which knocks her off balance.

"Oh crap!" She shouts as Jinx creates a magic fist that punches her into the wall behind her, cracks running up to the ceiling. Wonder Girl slowly brings herself out of the wall, rubbing her head and shaking the dust out of her hair. "Okay, let's try again," Jinx's powers cause a piece of the ceiling to fall down on her head. "Dammit!"

"**Tnaig sredips!"** Zatanna shouts.

The books all fly in the air and shift as they all fuse together, becoming five giant spiders made out of science, history, non-fiction, and fiction books. The book-spiders then jump at Jinx, who hastily puts up a shield and protects herself.

While she deals with the spiders, Zatanna quickly runs over to check on Wonder Girl, who is slowly getting out of the wall. "You okay?"

Wonder Girl slowly gets up. "That magic fist had a lot of strength behind it. Felt like getting punched by my sister, won't lie."

"**Laeh,"** Zatanna whispers. "Which is a good thing. Making a fist strong enough to hurt an Amazon takes power. She just has to keep on doing it."

"As much as I love testing myself, I'd rather not get punched like that again. I hope you can understa- MOVE!" Wonder Girl pushes Zatanna aside as she rolls the opposite direction, another magic fist slamming through the wall.

Jinx breathes heavily as she slowly rises up to the air, magic arcing off of her hands and eyes. Though Zatanna and Wonder Girl notice something, her magic blinks in and out, Jinx also breathes heavily as she tries to stay in the air. The two share a quick glance and nod.

Just as Jinx fires bolts of lightning at them, Wonder Girl throws her shield to the wall to their left, while it ricochets, she raises her bracelets, sending the lightning arcing away and causing it to hit many of the books and tables around them.

Zatanna stands behind Wonder Girl as she prepares a powerful spell that will transform the bookcases into golem-like creatures to help them battle. Eventually, Wonder Girl's shield manages to hit Jinx in the back of the head, sending her falling down to the ground as she cries out in pain.

"**Koob smelog,"** the bookcases shift, becoming giant gorilla-like forms, for joints, what books are uninjured move into place. One of the book golems raises its fist before slamming it down, Jinx manages to raise a shield just before the hit connects. Her shield then shoots a blast of energy outward, destroying the golem's arm.

Another one then moves in, but before it can, the entire room shakes violently, knocking everyone off their feet. Wonder Girl quickly gets up and helps Zatanna up as they look around confused, wondering where the source of that was, it was rather close…

The shaking then continues, forcing Wonder Girl, Zatanna, and Jinx to take flight to avoid falling over. "The hell is that?" Jinx demands.

Wonder Girl and Zatanna share a quick glance. "You thinking what I'm thinking, WG?" Zatanna asks.

Wonder Girl nods. "Yeah, I'm thinking that too."

"Whatever," Jinx shakes her head as she prepares to shoot fire at them.

Just as she goes for this, the wall next to Wonder Girl bursts open, a massive green-brown blur flies through and slams into Jinx's bubble shield, sending the two flying through many walls behind them.

Wonder Girl and Zatanna look at the hole Mammoth flew through just as a leg, clad in a familiar black and gray suit steps through. Another leg follows through, and then the team's second-in-command, Apex, walks through the hole. Wonder Girl was going to go hug him tightly, but then she quickly realizes his current situation.

He's currently breathing heavily as he clutches at his side, his broken ribs slowly mending themselves back together, he has blood running down the right side of his face and his left arm is currently bent at an awkward angle, but not for long, the limb quickly puts itself back into place.

"Just stay down, man, I really don't wanna do more than I have to," he whispers.

"You're okay!" Wonder Girl shouts as she flies over and hugs him tightly.

"Ribs! RIBS!"

"Sorry!"

Zatanna walks over and lightly punches his uninjured side. "Want me to heal you?"

Apex shakes his head as he takes some deep breaths, once that's done, he stands tall and hugs Wonder Girl back tightly. "Healing factor just kicked in. Thanks though," he then looks around and his eyes widen in surprise at the state of the library. "What happened here?"

"Magic battle," Wonder Girl answers. She then looks through the hole Apex walked through; her eyes also widen in surprise. "What happened out there?"

He sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Mammoth," he then glares at the wall opposite them as he slowly gets out of the hug. "Speaking of."

Wonder Girl and Zatanna nod as they get ready to fight as well. Zatanna's hands have magic circles over them as Wonder Girl gets her sword and shield ready.

Mammoth and Jinx burst through the opposite wall, which lets Wonder Girl and Zatanna get their first look at Mammoth's new form. "Holy shit," they both whisper.

"Yeah, it's impressive," Apex agrees, he then palms his fist. "But it won't let him win."

Jinx prepares a spell as Mammoth drags a foot behind him, ready to charge the heroes.

"No, no it won't," Zatanna agrees.

The fight then continues.

* * *

**Okay, I think that's as good a place as any to stop. **

**Next chapter will open with Omen and Bumblebee, followed by Robin, we'll then hit the end of the fight, and get closure to the Daichi-Roy situation and a relatively big change that's been hinted at throughout the arc. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people! **


	12. Blood of a God

**End of the arc! As said in the previous chapter, we'll open with the other two teams (Well, Omen and Bumblebee followed by Robin) before hitting Christmas and the lead up to the next arc. **

**It's funny, by the time the first chapter to the next arc is posted, it'll be the day after Christmas, whereas this chapter's gonna end during Christmas. But you're reading this now, so I didn't hold the chapter back. Who knows, maybe a future chapter will be posted around that time; it'll definitely be more festive than this one.**

**I'd also like to mention that my X-Men story **_**A Sinister Past**_** (The new title), is also being overhauled. At the time of writing (8/12/2020), I've finished the first chapter's overhaul and am more than halfway through the second chapter. There's gonna be more in-depth news for that story later. **

**Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!**

* * *

**Blood of a God**

**Omen and Bumblebee **

Omen quickly runs to cover behind a table covered with technological devices, Bumblebee currently stands on her shoulder, hanging on to Omen's cloak. Bumblebee's wings begin to flutter as she carefully flies atop Omen's head and peaks over the table.

"_He's absorbed in his work," _Bumblebee relays. _"Don't know if he even knows we're here."_

"_We still need to be careful," _Omen thinks. _"Think you can get closer?"_

Bumblebee mentally scoffs. _"I know I can."_

Bumblebee jumps off of Omen's head and flies over to another table, hiding behind what looks like a drone and peeks over at Gizmo. Once she makes sure he isn't looking, she flies closer, standing on the shoulder of a robot and using its head as cover.

As she approaches from the right, Omen dashes from cover to cover on the left. She stops behind a pillar, in front of a shutdown robot. From her cover, Omen gets a good look at Gizmo, she notices the green technological lines travelling across his face.

Her brow furrows as Gizmo continues to work on his project, his headphones still in. _"Hey, Bumblebee,"_ Omen begins. _"Gizmo didn't have green lines across his face last time, did he?"_

As Bumblebee flies to the table Gizmo works on, Omen feels her confusion. _"No?" _Bumblebee's thoughts become silent as she readies her stinger. _"I'll knock him out with one good hit though."_

As the stinger charges, Gizmo's device on the table suddenly comes to life and shoots a green ball at Bumblebee. Before she can react, it hits her, and the ball grows into a bubble that surrounds Bumblebee and floats in the air.

Gizmo laughs as he watches Bumblebee float around helplessly in the bubble. "Wow! You heroes sure are dumb! Did you really think I didn't know you were there?" He taunts before looking in Omen's direction. "Or you?"

The robot behind her activates and reaches out, wrapping Omen in a bear hug and lifting her off her feet. The robot's arms crush her abdomen and torso, which doesn't let her concentrate her powers.

Omen kicks and tries to escape from the robot's grasp, but its strength makes her actions futile. Omen eventually stops her actions and glares at Gizmo from behind her hood. "Hooray, you caught us. What's up with your marks?"

Gizmo smirks and leans back in his seat. Just before he answers, he pokes the bubble away, and Bumblebee shouts at him in response. The little technopath just smirks before focusing on Omen again.

"Oh, you know, just a power upgrade. That's all," he answers. "Wanna know what my powers are?"

Omen blinks in surprise. _'He can't be serious,'_ she thinks.

"Come ooon, guess," Gizmo pushes. His markings then glow, and the robot's arms tighten, leading to Omen groaning out in pain. Gizmo's playful look then becomes serious. "Guess."

Omen takes some deep breaths and flinches before glaring at him. "I don't know…technopathy?"

Gizmo smiles and sits back. "Ding, ding, ding! First try!"

'_Oh my God, he's serious,' _Omen deadpans.

The green bubble floats closer and bounces off of Gizmo's head. Looking inside, the two look to see Bumblebee slamming her shoulder into it, controlling where it flies. "When I get out of here, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Bumblebee then attempts to grow, but the bubble glows green as she hits the barrier of it. "The hell!?"

Gizmo laughs like a little gremlin. "Oh, that bubble absorbs kinetic energy," he then turns to Omen. "Oh, and don't even try to mess with my head. I've got some really strong psi-shields."

"You really are arrogant," Omen comments. "I mean, who else would tell us all their gear and powers?"

Gizmo shrugs and gets up, his marks glow again as the drone on the table floats next to him. "Is it really arrogance if I'm just that good?"

Bumblebee's bubble bounces off the back of Gizmo's head. "Pride comes before the fall, Jerkass! And man, it's gonna be one hell of a fall."

Gizmo growls as his marks glow again. A cable shoots from the drone and grabs the bubble before pulling it into the drone. Bumblebee shouts in surprise as her bubble is taken to the center of the drone, locked in place.

"Will you cut that out!" Gizmo shouts at Bumblebee.

In response, she flips him off.

Gizmo sighs deeply before turning to Omen. "Tell your friend to-" the whole room shakes violently. "Whoa!"

During the shaking, the robot—who's arms weren't complete—loses its grip on the telepath, freeing Omen. She rubs her chest to soothe the pain before rolling away, using her telekinesis to keep her cloak away.

"Catch her you damned wastes of resources! She's got a freaking cloak!" Gizmo shouts, his face turning red as his anger increases.

Bumblebee smirks. "I thought they worked under your control. What's that say about you?"

Gizmo turns around to glare at her. "Shut up!"

One of the robots is thrown by Omen's telekinesis and clips Gizmo. It also slams into the drone holding Bumblebee. Once it crashes, the bubble pops, freeing Bumblebee and letting her fly free.

"Oh, your gonna regret holding me in that," she threatens as she cracks her knuckles. Her fists glow yellow as her stingers activate.

Gizmo growls before stumbling as another earthquake goes off. "The hell is that!?"

The earpieces of Omen and Bumblebee activate. _"Hey, this is Robin. I just wanna say: it's pretty hard hacking their tech when I gotta fight back cultists _and _deal with a magnitude twenty earthquake! What the hell's going on!?"_

"_Sorry, that's me," _Apex apologizes_. "Mammoth got a power boost. He's a lot stronger and tougher than when you guys fought him."_

"_Yeah!" _Kid Flash shouts. _"This Billy Numerous guy just used Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu! He could only make three last time!"_

Omen lifts the other robot up and throws it at the now rising drone before replying. "The same can be said for Gizmo. He doesn't even use his gauntlet to control his tech anymore. I think he's a technopath. It's possible they've all gotten increases to their powers."

"_I think you're right, Omen. Zee, watch out!"_ Wonder Girl shouts. She's silent for a moment before continuing. _"Jinx's spells are far more powerful than last time."_

"_Robin, find out what you can about their power boost. I gotta go, Mammoth really doesn't know how to stay down," _Apex says before leaving the call.

"Okay! I've had enough!" Gizmo shouts before his jetpack activates. The technopath takes flight in the massive room and aims his open hand downwards, the lines on his skin glowing brightly.

In response, the two robots from before stand back up. The drone sputters a bit before taking back to the air. Spider bots, small robots, and a large, half-built robot, all activate and march towards the two heroines.

Gizmo laughs as he watches the two slowly back up to the doors to the room. "Not so confident now, are you?"

As Gizmo laughs again, Bumblebee growls in annoyance. "I'm gonna shoot him in the throat. That laugh's so damn annoying," she threatens.

"You got that right," Omen agrees. "I'll keep Gizmo and the robots busy, you shut them down."

Bumblebee nods before shrinking down and shooting forward, heading for the damaged drone first.

Thanks to her small size, she's able to easily fly inside due to the damaged parts and shoot rapid stinger blasts at the exposed wiring and technology that makes up the drone. Due to her attacks, the robot veers out of control and flies towards the large robot. Bumblebee manages to fly out of it just before it explodes against the large robot's face.

Omen ducks as the first robot she threw attempts to hit her with a right hook. While rising up, she holds it in a telekinetic grasp and swings it around, hitting many of the pillars in the room before throwing it at the other, similar robot.

Omen flies away as some spider bots jump at her previous position, though, a few manage to land on her leg and quickly crawl up her body. The telepath slaps at the spiders, trying to knock them off, but while she's doing this, Gizmo shoots her with a taser. Omen's body locks up as she cries out in pain, the electricity arcing through her body before she falls to the ground.

"Omen!" Bumblebee tries to assist her, but the large robots massive, complete hand stops her and nearly grabs her.

"_Omen! You okay?" _Bumblebee thinks as she enters one of the smaller robots and tears the wires inside apart.

The spider bots crawling all over Omen are knocked back by a telekinetic force from Omen. The telepath slowly sits up and pulls the taser bolt out of her leg and rubs the wound. _"I'm starting to hate this gremlin."_

One of the robots suddenly reaches down and grabs Omen by the neck, choking her as it slowly lifts her up off her feet. Its grip tightens as she tries to telekinetically push it away, taking away her focus.

Bumblebee notices this and flies over, but just before she can reach the robot, Gizmo shoots more of the compact bubbles at her. Bumblebee manages to dodge them and shoot the robot's arm at the elbow with an extra powerful stinger blast, which manages to cut the robot's arm in half.

Omen falls to the ground and gently rubs her throat and coughs as air returns to her lungs.

Bumblebee shoulder charges the robot, but just before she makes contact, she grows to normal size. The kinetic force from her growth adds strength to the attack, sending the robot flying back into a wall and shutting it down.

"Big robot!" Omen shouts.

She telekinetically pushes Bumblebee away and flies backwards as the large robot slams its fist into the ground where the two just were, many of the spider bots are crushed by the attack.

The robot shifts its focus to Omen as Gizmo fires more compact bubbles at Bumblebee. "Quit moving already!" The technopath shouts in frustration.

"I'd rather not!" Bumblebee shouts back as she flies between two bubbles and shoots a spider bot with a stinger blast. _"Omen, please tell me you have a plan." _

Omen holds the large robot's fist back before lifting a table and slamming it into the robot's upper body. _"Hold a moment," _everything shakes violently, nearly knocking the robot over on top of Omen. _"Jesus! Apex! The hell's going on!?"_

"_Can't talk!"_ Apex quickly replies.

The ground behind Omen breaks apart as the wing of a jet flies through it and continues upwards. The fighting pauses as the three (and the robots) look up at the jet wing continues upwards. They then look down the hole and Gizmo creates a holographic screen; on it they see the evolved Mammoth and Apex hitting each other with powerful attacks.

"Hey, I've been wondering. What's Mammoth got against Apex?" Gizmo asks.

"I've actually been wondering about that too," Bumblebee says.

Omen looks at the two before shrugging. "Isn't it obvious? Mammoth hates the fact that Apex beat him last time they fought. So, he sees this as his chance to prove he's stronger," Omen looks at their battle again. "Why's he only using his strength though? Apex has so many more powers."

"Whatever! Robots! Kill!" Gizmo shouts as he resumes shooting at Bumblebee. This time, two arms appear over his shoulders from his jetpack, little guns at the end of them.

As Omen resumes dodging the attacks, she has an idea. _"Bumblebee! Plan!"_

"_Tell me please!" _Bumblebee replies as she hits Gizmo in the head with a quick stinger blast. "Gotcha!"

When Bumblebee hit Gizmo in the head, the few spider bots left, and the large robot began to spaz out for a moment before he recovered.

"It'll take more than that!" Gizmo shouts. Two more drones fly next to him and chase Bumblebee around the room.

"_These robots are all controlled by Gizmo, right? I mean, when you shot him in the head the robots went haywire for a moment,"_ Omen begins.

"_So, what's the pla- WHOA!"_ Bumblebee shouts as a taser bolt narrowly misses her tiny form. _"That would've been baaad."_

"_The plan is for you to get in real close, take out his tech and hit him with all the stinger blasts you can,"_ Omen strategizes.

"_And the robots should shut down?"_ Bumblebee wonders as she flies closer to Gizmo, ready to go through with the plan.

Omen lifts some rocks from the jet wings sudden rise and throws them at the large robot and the spider bots. She manages to crush the spider bots left and leaves large dents in the large one. _"Yeah. But just in case that doesn't work, I have an idea." _

"_What's your plan?" _Bumblebee inquires as she reaches Gizmo and enters his jetpack.

"Hey! Get out of there!" The technopath shouts as he futilely reaches back for her.

Omen smirks as she flies around the large robot, occasionally hitting it with forceful pushes—all towards the hole in the ground.

As the large robot is pushed, Bumblebee finds what looks to be the power source for Gizmo's jetpack. Smirking, the tiny hero charges up a powerful stinger blast.

"Boom."

Bumblebee shoots the power source. And to add to the damage, she grows back to normal size while inside the jetpack.

The reaction's instantaneous. Gizmo and Bumblebee begin to fall down, the former's concentration now lost. Because of his loss of concentration, the remaining robots all go haywire, and Omen uses this to her advantage by hitting the large robot down the hole, which takes down the other robots with it.

"_You've got incoming, Daichi!" _Omen warns.

"_No, I've got ammo,"_ he corrects. _"Thanks, Omen."_

Omen looks down to see Apex fly up quickly, grab what remains of the biggest robot, and fly down and smack Mammoth away with it.

She smiles and turns around to see Bumblebee holding Gizmo in a headlock. The technopath tries to fight out of her grasp. "Let me go! Let me go, dammit!"

Omen just glares at him and her eyes glow green. The feedback hits her hard, but Omen stands her ground and continues to glare, ignoring the blood trickling down her nose. _"Shut up already."_

Gizmo's eyes roll up and he falls unconscious.

Omen takes a deep breath as she stumbles back and holds her head. With her left hand, she lowers her facemask and wipes away the blood dripping from her nostril. "Damn."

Bumblebee drops Gizmo and walks up to Omen. "Whoa, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just- man, that was _so_ not worth it," Omen replies as she brings her mask back up.

Bumblebee looks down at Gizmo. "I thought you said he had a psi-shield."

"He did. I managed to break through it," Omen boasts. "Come on, let's go join Robin."

Bumblebee nods and the two run out of the room to join their leader.

* * *

**Robin**

The Boy Wonder seemingly teleports from shadow to shadow as he avoids any cultist in his way. None even knowing he's there, even with the bright colors he wears.

From behind a pillar, standing in the shadows, Robin looks at the main computer in the room—a massive screen takes up almost an entire wall. Reminds him of the Batcomputer, actually. Three cultists are currently on it, one typing, two others watching the screens.

"Reports of intruders within the complex," the one on the left says.

"Shimmer reports that Speedy and Starfire are chasing her. She also reports that Mammoth and Apex are fighting in the training ground," the one on the right says.

The one in the middle growls and tries to look through the cameras. Robin smirks as the looped footage keeps playing. "Can't find them anywhere, dammit! But if Speedy, Starfire, and Apex are here, then the Teen Titans can't be far behind."

The one on the left pulls a microphone to him and presses the button beside it. "All personnel, the Teen Titans are within the complex. Repeat, the Teen Titans are within the complex. Do not let any of them in the main control room. And make sure _none _of them are even in the same room as Brother Blood."

Robin smirks, a little too late for the main control room part. _'But who the hell's Brother Blood?'_

The room shakes violently. Robin nearly falls over and reveals his position but quickly recovers and holds onto the pillar tightly, ready for another quake.

The cultists weren't so lucky. The three fall over and land atop each other, once the shaking stops they struggle for a moment to detangle themselves before getting up and looking through the cameras. The main screen then shows Apex and Mammoth hitting each other with powerful blows, each one followed by loud booms.

The one in the middle turns to the other two. "Go, get as many heavy weapons as you can. If those two continue, Brother Blood won't be happy."

The two nod before running out of the room, leaving Robin with the cultist on the computer. The Boy Wonder smirks before running out of the shadows and jumping on the cultist's back, putting him in a chokehold. Once the cultist is knocked out, Robin slowly puts him down and drags him into the shadow behind the pillar.

'_Man, these are some conveniently dark shadows,'_ he thinks.

A quake far larger than the ones before it goes off. Robin quickly pulls out his grappling hook and shoots it into the roof of the room, he then lifts up his feet to avoid the tremors.

Robin then walks over to the computer and turns off the cameras. The Boy Wonder then exits the application and looks through the files present on the computer.

"Okay, let's see what we have here…" he whispers. "Cult of Kobra, League of Assassins (shit), and other assorted evil sounding groups. Lovely."

The door suddenly opens, and a few armed cultists enter the room. "Hey, the ground in the training room kindaaa…"

The six cultists pause as they see Robin slowly turn around to look at them. "Hi," Robin waves.

"Get him!"

Robin quickly drops a smoke pellet and uses his grappling hook to get a better position, overlooking the room as the cultists cough and wave the smoke away. While on the wall, Robin gets out three birdarangs and prepares to throw them at three of his enemies, but just as he does, the building shakes again, throwing off his aim, leading to the birdarangs missing completely.

The cultists follow the path of the birdarangs to find Robin on the wall above them. One of them activates her earpiece. "We've got an intruder in the monitor room! It's Robin! Send reinforcements!"

'_Dammit,'_ Robin thinks as he swings from pillar to pillar, the cultists lose his position. _'Gotta stop anymore reinforcements from coming in otherwise it'll be an endless stream of these guys.'_

The door opens, and six more cultist enter the room. The twelve then sweep the room high and low, looking for the Boy Wonder. Said acrobat curses in his head before getting four birdarangs in his hand. _'I can take on eight. I'm sure of it.'_

Robin throws the four weapons, hitting the cultists in their heads or necks, knocking the four out instantly. The remaining eight look up and shine their flashlights in his direction, before they can shoot, he throws down two smoke bombs and activates the infrared in his mask.

Robin then jumps down and lands on one of the coughing cultists; once he's down, Robin stomps on his head to knock him out before leaping away from a wild swing.

"Where the hell is he!?" One of them shouts.

"No idea!" Another replies.

"Well that's helpful!"

"Shut u-AGH!"

Robin interrupts him with a taser shot. Suddenly, an arm wraps around his neck and a hand holds his arm back. "I have him!" A cultist shouts in excitement.

Another cultist slowly walks over and unsheathes his sword. "Keep him still, I don't want to stab the both of you."

The cultist holding Robin tightens his grip around the young man's neck, while the other one draws their sword back, ready to stab the hero. The sword then comes forward, but another quake happens, and throws everyone off balance, letting Robin break free.

Robin rubs his neck as he rolls away to see the smoke beginning to clear, it's still thick, but eventually it will be gone. _'Gotta be faster,'_ he thinks.

Robin grabs some foam bombs from his belt and throws them at three cultists standing together. Once the bombs explode, the three are trapped together by quickly hardening foam. Robin then runs back into the smoke and jumps up and kicks another in the face, knocking his mask askew. He then goes for a palm strike to the throat, but the room shakes yet again, throwing his attack off.

Robin growls in annoyance before activating his comms. "Hey, this is Robin. I just wanna say: it's pretty hard hacking their tech when I gotta fight back cultists and deal with a magnitude twenty earthquake! What the hell's going on!?"

The others reply, with Apex mentioning Mammoth's power upgrade, Omen then brings up Gizmo's. _'So, they've all been enhanced,'_ Robin thinks as the communicator turns off. He then ducks a punch and uppercuts the cultist before backflipping and kicking another enemy away.

Robin then tilts out of the way of a downward swipe from a blade and elbows the shoulder of his attacker, sending the blade flying away and nearly breaking the cultist's arm. _'Six down, two to go.'_

One of the cultists has two short swords, one in each hand, the other has a golden blade with a red line running down the center. The smoke eventually clears entirely, which lets the two see Robin.

The one with the sword points the tip of the blade at the Boy Wonder. "You will regret invading our home, boy. Brother Blood doesn't like intruders."

"He's correct," the other agrees as he crosses the short swords over his chest. "In fact, you should let us kill you now, we'll be doing you a favor."

"Trust us, you do not want to draw Brother Blood's ire," the one with the sword adds.

Robin hums and draws an assortment of birdarangs. "Hmmm, I'd rather trust my friends. See, they're kicking the Hive Five's asses right now, and I'm about to kick yours. Whatever your Brother Blood has in store, we can deal with it."

Short Swords sighs and shakes his head. "The folly of youth. Don't say we didn't warn you."

Sword then runs forward, Short Swords right behind him, and horizontally cuts at Robin. The acrobat flips up and lands on the sword, he then quickly places a birdarang on the blade and leaps away. The weapon beeps three times before a flash of light goes off, blinding the two. Robin then runs forward and kicks Sword away before leaping on Short Sword's shoulders.

"You're blind!" Robin shouts before grabbing his cape and putting it around Short Swords' face.

Short Swords struggles and waves his blades around, trying to cut Robin. Most attacks miss, but a few manage to get the young hero on the arms, leaving gashes on the limbs. Robin then places another birdarang on Short Swords' chest, he then leaps off and knees Sword in the face before rolling away. The birdarang on Short Swords explodes into a high-pitched screech, disorienting the two again.

"CUT THAT OUT, BOY!" Swords shouts.

"HA! Cut! Get it? 'Cause you have swords! You can't…hear… Whatever," Robin shrugs and tosses two foam birdarangs at their chests, trapping the two in foam prisons. With all the cultists down, Robin quickly flips to the door and locks it just before more cultists enter, he then pumps his right fist but hisses in pain as it agitates the cuts.

"That was stupid," he whispers to himself. Robin then walks over to the computer and resumes hacking.

Thanks to the Hive Five's jet, Robin's able to hack the data quickly. Most of it regards locations of bases all over the world, others focus on spells and weaponry to work on. But there's one Robin finds most interesting.

A file on parents and adopted fourteen-year-old girls all over the world.

"The hell…?" Robin whispers. He begins to download the data and activates his commlink. "Guys, I've found some really interesting stuff on this computer."

"_Can you download it and tell us later?" _Apex asks.

"Already on it," Robin says.

"_Hey, if you're done, think you can help us? Kid and I are kind of having some trouble," _Aqualad says.

"_Omen and I are on our way,"_ Bumblebee says.

"_We're still busy with Shimmer,"_ Speedy says.

"_Apex, Zatanna, and I are busy with Mammoth and Jinx,"_ Wonder Girl informs. The sound of combat overtakes the communication, followed by shaking that Robin feels. _"It might take some time."_

The download finishes, and Robin quickly finds a nearby ventilation shaft to crawl through thanks to the map he just downloaded. "Speedy, Starfire, I'm on my way to you guys. Everyone else, stay on your toes."

Robin gets a multitude of affirmatives before crawling into the vent, ready to assist his friends.

* * *

**Speedy and Starfire**

The Tamaranean Princess barely avoids a swing from the electric sword before flying back and shooting star bolts at Shimmer. The enhanced metahuman uses her glass sword to protect herself, it also manages to barely reflect the star bolt downwards, surprising all three.

"Huh, that happened," Shimmer says.

Speedy nocks a fire arrow and shoots it at Shimmer while she's focused on the scorched ground below her. The arrow hits, and her armor quickly catches on fire. As Shimmer fights to get rid of the flames, Starfire swoops down and kicks her back, sending Shimmer skimming along the floor.

Shimmer quickly grabs some dirt and throws it onto the fire, the dirt transforms into water and douses the flames. The metahuman then slowly sits up and glares at the two, particularly at Speedy. "You're so damn de-"

Robin falls from the roof and lands on top of her.

Robin looks down at Shimmer as he stands on her before looking at the two. "Hey guys!" He then flips off as Shimmer's swords try to cut into him. As he flips, Robin throws down a smoke bomb and hides away into the corners of the room.

As Shimmer coughs the smoke away, Starfire aims her fist into the cloud and shoots concussive star bolts from both fists into the cloud. Shimmer manages to block the first one thanks to pure luck, the second one does hit her in the side though, sending her flying out of the cloud and into the wall behind her.

As she recovers, Speedy fires two net arrows, pinning her to the wall. To make matters worse, Robin throws to ice bombs at her hands, pinning them down as he falls from the shadows and kicks her head on the way down, knocking her out.

"And that's why you wear a helmet, kids," he quips.

"But none of us wear helmets," Starfire says with a tilt of her head. "Should we from now on?"

Robin lightly chuckles as he walks up to her. "It's a joke, Star."

She looks down and thinks it over before nodding with a smile. "Ah, I understand it now! Good joke, Robin!"

The Boy Wonder blushes and scratches his cheek with a finger. "Oh, well you know-"

"We're wasting time," Speedy interrupts. "Shimmer and Gizmo are down, we're not sure about Billy Numerous, and Apex has yet to beat Mammoth."

"Wonder Girl and Zatanna haven't beat Jinx yet, either," Robin says.

"What of Aqualad and Kid Flash?" Starfire asks, worried for her friends. "Should we not assist them with Omen and Bumblebee?"

Robin smirks. "Doesn't really matter where we go, I made sure of that."

"How?" Speedy asks.

"When I was on their computer, I made a call. We've got one hell of a cavalry coming in," Robin says.

"How long 'til your "cavalry" arrives?" Speedy asks as the three exit the room.

Robin looks at the watch on his holographic screen. "Fifteen minutes max," the ground shakes again. "Come on! I'll take us to WG, Zee, and A!"

The three run down the hallway, intent on helping their friends.

* * *

**Aqualad and Kid Flash**

"Dammit! This is getting annoying!" Aqualad shouts in frustration as he narrowly avoids the blade of a White Cell assassin.

"On that, we agree," Brother Blood says from his position atop the staircase. "White Cells! Why can't you kill two children?"

That seems to spur them on. The one fighting Aqualad increases the speed of its attacks, getting in a few hits that leave scratches on the Atlantean's face. Aqualad pushes the Cell back and creates his own water blade. The two circle each other and watch the others body language.

"Give up now and you won't regret working with this asshole," Aqualad warns.

"I will gladly give my life for Brother Blood, Atlantean. Do you know anything about loyalty?" The White Cell counters.

Aqualad nods. "Actually, I do. Well, let's test it then. My loyalty to my people and my friends, against yours to your cult and leader."

"Yes, let's," the White Cell agrees.

The two charge forward and clash their blades. Thanks to his natural build, Aqualad is able to push the White Cell's sword back, forcing the assassin to take steps back to keep his balance. But before he can do more, the White Cell quickly sidesteps out of the struggle and kicks Aqualad away.

The White Cell then runs forward and swings his blade upwards, narrowly missing Aqualad's face. The Atlantean then pushes the White Cell away with his shoulder and attempts to stab the foot of his opponent, but the White Cell backflips away, kicking Aqualad in the face for good measure.

Aqualad rubs his face as he and his opponent circle each other again. "You're fast. Stronger than normal people, too."

"A reward for our devotion. Brother Blood increased our physical capabilities, so we may better serve him and achieve his goals," the White Cell explains.

"So, you're living weapons. Okay," Aqualad replies.

The two run at each other again, this time, the White Cell slides under Aqualad's attack and cuts at the Atlantean's back. Thanks to the composition of the blade, it manages to leave a mark on Aqualad's back.

Aqualad growls in annoyance before turning around and bringing his sword down at the White Cell. As expected, the assassin dodges it, right into Aqualad's trap. The Atlantean grabs the White Cell by the leg and swings him around before throwing him into the stone wall, taking the assassin out for a moment. His mask is also knocked off of his face.

"You were good. But I'm better," Aqualad taunts. He prepares a spell to trap the White Cell with water, but the assassin's head suddenly shoots up and the White Cell runs forward and jumps over Aqualad, kicking the Atlantean in the back once he lands.

"May have spoke to soon," Aqualad whispers as he and the White Cell fight again.

While the two fight, Kid Flash finds himself attacked by the other three. The three White Cells move at their max speed to even keep up with the speedster—all attacking Kid Flash from three different sides to keep him pinned.

Kid Flash barely avoids a blade to the neck before quickly headbutting the White Cell in front of him, he then ducks to avoid a punch and jumps back a little to dodge a kick. The White Cells are on him like a pack of ravenous dogs almost immediately.

"What the hell! Come on you guys, why not come at me one at a time? Trust me, it'll be way better than this," Kid Flash says as he runs behind a White Cell and elbows him in the back into the other two. "I mean, why have three on me and one on Aqualad? He's stronger than me."

"Thank you!" Aqualad shouts as he and his opponent lock blades again before destroying a stone next to them.

"Our lord wants to study your bodies, yours in particular," one of the White Cells answers as they get up and slowly circle the speedster like a pack of sharks.

"Oh, great. I need an adult," Kid Flash quips.

The White Cell behind him raises his blade. "I am an adult."

The three move in and completely surround Kid Flash, ready to strike him down with a coordinated attack. Normally, Kid Flash would run away, but instead he takes a deep breath and focuses.

The White Cells swing down, they then look up, surprised to see Kid Flash still in the center, but they're even more surprised to see that the swords have done nothing to him, and that his body looks to be vibrating.

Kid Flash smirks and looks down at one of the White Cells. "This is gonna hurt," he then reaches down and puts his hand into the White Cell's shoulder.

The reaction is immediate. The White Cell screams in pain as his molecules are forcibly vibrated by Kid Flash's, and not only that, some bolts of electricity arc from Kid Flash's molecules to the Cell's, increasing the pain tremendously.

Kid Flash takes his hand out and looks at it with an arched brow. "Interesting. It seems, phasing through people causes pain and great discomfort. Good to know."

The White Cell behind Kid Flash roars and attempts to cut off his head, but the speedster quickly turns around and swipes his hand through the blade, cutting it in half. As the White Cell looks at the other half of his blade, Kid Flash stops vibrating and uppercuts the White Cell away.

"Shoryuken!" Kid Flash shouts.

The White Cell is sent flying by the uppercut, but as soon as he hits the ground, he slowly gets up. The other White Cell then attacks Kid Flash and attempts multiple swipes at the speedster, a few closer than others.

As Kid Flash is busy, the one who had his arm injured slowly brings his uninjured arm up to his commlink. "Brother Blood is still in the complex. I repeat, Brother Blood is still in the complex."

It takes some time for a reply, but once it comes, the White Cell hears combat and shouting in the background. _"Get him out, now! The Teen Titans have called in assistance! We'll hold them off as long as we can, but-"_ the communication is then cutoff.

But it's more than enough for the White Cell. As the two heroes are busy, he slowly walks towards his leader. "Brother Blood, the Teen Titans have called in reinforcements."

Brother Blood looks at the White Cell with an emotionless face. "So they have," he walks towards the waiting submarine as the heroes and the other White Cells are occupied.

"We will stand here and buy you some time," the White Cell says with a nod.

"I would not have it any other way," Brother Blood says. "What of the data? The girl?"

The White Cell activates his commlink. "The data? Was it deleted when the Teen Titans invaded?"

All he gets in return is silence. The White Cell looks at Brother Blood.

Brother Blood understands the look and takes some deep, calming breaths. "I see… This may lead to more run-ins with these children. Very well. Cover my escape," Brother Blood then enters the submarine and it shortly leaves.

The White Cell nods before taking a deep breath and drawing two sai. He then turns around and sees Aqualad and Kid Flash staring him down. But they aren't the only ones, Omen and Bumblebee are here as well. But there's more.

The first is an older, but still muscular man wearing red boots, blue pants and a red shirt with blue sides and a yellow lightning bolt coming up from the left side up to the right shoulder. He also wears a Hermes-like helmet on his head.

The second is an extremely muscular young man wearing a mainly navy-blue suit with a yellow chest and some red squares just below the yellow and on his bracers. He has a red radioactive symbol on his chest and wears a navy-blue mask that covers everything but his blue eyes.

The third is another young man, wearing a primarily black reinforced suit with yellow boots, a red belt with an hourglass symbol in the center. The top half of his suit is still black, with two yellow lines on each side of his chest and fingerless gloves with three red chevrons on each. He wears a yellow cape connected to a yellow hood and has a black cowl over his face. Around his neck is a necklace with a small hourglass in the center.

Kid Flash smirks and walks in front of the older man. "Mr. Assassin Cultist, I'd like for you to meet the first Flash," Flash tips his helmet in greeting. "Damage," Damage's fists glow with radioactive energy. "And Hourman."

"If you're like the other assassins we've fought in the past, you won't give up until we kick your ass, right?" Hourman cracks his knuckles. "Please don't give up."

Omen's eyes glow and Bumblebee shrinks as she prepares stinger blasts, Aqualad cracks his knuckles, and both speedsters look ready to run.

The White Cell slowly draws his blade.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Hourman and Damage shout.

The White Cell is taken out almost immediately.

* * *

**Apex, Wonder Girl, and Zatanna**

I dodge Mammoth's punch and then kick him hard in the face, sending the brute flying back into a clothesline from Wonder Girl. Mammoth then slowly gets up as he breathes heavily and glares at me. Damn, it's like he has a single-minded hatred for me. We can work with that.

Mammoth roars and runs towards me, completely unaware of Wonder Girl flying right behind him.

As he nears me, I quickly fly next to Wonder Girl, and thanks to his size and momentum, Mammoth is forced to keep on running. Wonder Girl and I watch as he runs through the wall, leaving a massive hole.

"He really wants to prove his strength, doesn't he?" Wonder Girl asks.

"Yeah, too bad he'll fail again," I say. I then look over to see Zatanna holding a strong defense, but Jinx doesn't give her the chance to attack. "Think you can help Zatanna? I can deal with Mammoth."

Wonder Girl looks at me for a moment before nodding and flying over to help our mage friend.

Mammoth slowly marches back into the room, glaring at me the entire time. He then clenches both fists before raising them up high and then bringing them down. We all see this coming and take flight. Well, almost all of us, Jinx doesn't and falls down flat on her back.

"Mammoth! If you don't cut that shit out, I swear-" Jinx is interrupted by magic bolts from Zatanna and Wonder Girl punching her shield, the two now putting Jinx on the defensive.

I fly forward and hit Mammoth with an energy infused right hook, this time with even more strength behind the hit. The enhanced metahuman's head twists to the side as he fights to keep his balance. I push the attack with another punch, this one to his kidney. Mammoth reacts badly to that hit and coughs up some blood before falling to his knees.

Can't let him recover.

I grab him by the hair and uppercut his face, sending him flying up towards the roof, but before he can reach it, I fly above and stomp both feet on his back, sending him flying down to the ground.

Man, I should've done this earlier, stopped holding back. Then again, part of it is because of my training, of the many lessons beat into my head "Never show your true power from the start," was one the Evolutionary made sure I understood as early as possible.

It's a good thing I'm not using my full power though, otherwise this place wouldn't survive, but I can't hold back too much, otherwise the fight will drag on. Or continue to, at least.

While on the ground, Mammoth tears out a chunk of it and throws it up at me. I quickly destroy it, but Mammoth uses the cover to jump up and grab me, he then positions me below him as we fall back to the ground.

Before we hit, I fire a powerful blast of explosive energy from my mouth, sending Mammoth flying away and releasing me from his grasp.

A fist of magic slams into my side, sending me bouncing along the ground and slamming through a few bookcases still standing. I shake my head to see Jinx's shield now has four arms, one attacking Zatanna, one attacking Wonder Girl, one attacking me, and the last on defense.

"If he can't handle you, then I'll take all three of you on!" Jinx shouts.

"C'mon, Jinx, you could barely handle the two of us!" Zatanna replies. **"Elttirb dnuorg!"**

The floor beneath Jinx breaks apart, sending the mage girl falling through, but the arms quickly stretch out and dig into the roof of the library. As that happens, Mammoth comes back and charges at me with his head down and shoulder out.

Okay, more power's needed for this.

I take a deep breath and relax my muscles before clenching my fists and glaring at Mammoth. "You two may want to find cover!" I warn Wonder Girl and Zee. Zatanna quickly puts up a shield as I fly towards Mammoth and hit him with an uppercut.

The shockwave rips the paneling off of the walls in the room, anything left standing is knocked over, and the glass in the room shatters. The floor above me breaks apart due to the force of my punch and continues on until I see the night sky. Zatanna's shield holds but she looks to be barely standing. Mammoth is sent flying away, blood flying out of his mouth as he lands hard on the ground.

He groans and some smoke billows from his body. Yeah, he isn't getting up anytime soon.

As everything gets quiet, Jinx slowly rises up from her bubble. Her eyes widen in surprise before she sneers at Mammoth's body. "Should've known, brute strength is nothing compared to magic. I can take all three of you on!"

"What about all ten of us?"

We turn to see Robin, Starfire, and Speedy run into the room, with four others.

The first is an old man with blond hair. He wears black boots, green pants, a red shirt with a yellow circle on his chest and a different Green Lantern on his chest. He wears a purple cape with a green inside and a purple domino mask. On his left middle finger is a green ring with fire-like energy flickering off of it.

The second is another old man wearing an all-black, reinforced suit with white bandages going from his forearms to his knuckles. His mask looks cat-like and shows the lower half of his face, which shows his five-o-clock shadow.

The third's a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears yellow boots and shorts with a red short-sleeved shirt with a semi-circle on her chest with three wings on either side. She also has yellow gloves and a black cowl like Kid Flash's.

The fourth is another young woman, also with blonde hair and blue eyes, though her hair's cut short. She wears blue boots and gloves and a white, long-sleeved leotard with a red cape over one shoulder and a very famous chest window that shows off her infamous chest.

"So, Jinx, think you can take on the first Green Lantern, Wildcat, Jesse Quick, _and_ Power Girl?" Zatanna taunts.

Jinx looks at all ten of us before sighing and powering down her magic. "I'm strong, but I'm not stupid," she then sways before falling over, unconscious.

"Uh… What?" Wildcat asks.

"She was given an intense power boost, but because her body wasn't used to the sudden increase it had to shut down and preserve itself," Zatanna explains. "She actually held out a lot longer than expected."

"Cool," Jesse then lightly kicks Mammoth's leg. "What about this thing?"

"Oh, that's Mammoth. Has an unhealthy amount of hate for Apex," Wonder Girl answers.

Power Girl sighs and shakes her head as she puts her hand on my shoulder. "Well, looks like you've found your rival, dear cousin."

"Great," I dryly mutter. "You coming over for Christmas? Martha was asking about you."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Just that running a business and being a superhero can be a pain sometimes. Especially when you have to keep an eye on relics," she pointedly looks at Wildcat and Green Lantern.

Green Lantern shakes his head with a chuckle before creating a cage construct around Mammoth and Jinx. "I seem to remember taking out most of those cultists earlier."

"Your memories failing you, Alan, _I _took out the most," Wildcat says as the two exit the library and continue their argument.

As they leave, Wonder Girl turns to Jesse and Power Girl. "How'd you guys get here? And are the others here?"

"Robin called us. Though, we didn't need all of us here, so Sandman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Citizen Steel, and Atom-Smasher are still at the base," Jesse answers.

"_Hey, guys!"_ Kid Flash says excitedly over the communicator. _"You'll never guess who's here!"_

Zatanna smirks. "Is it the Justice Society?"

"_I- huh? How'd you know?"_ He asks.

"Power Girl and Jesse Quick are with us. Wildcat and Green Lantern just left with Mammoth and Jinx," Zee answers.

"We should head to the entrance, we can converse there," I suggest.

"All right, follow the leader, kiddos!" Robin says as he marches out of the library.

Jesse leans towards Wonder Girl. "I may be wrong, but isn't he the youngest one here?"

Wonder Girl smirks. "Yup."

* * *

It takes a bit of maneuvering thanks to the state of the complex after our arrival (mainly because of my fight with Mammoth), but eventually we find ourselves standing with the others, our two Javelins behind us.

Wally, who took the mask of a White Cell assassin (whatever the hell that is) as the souvenir of this adventure. Right now, he spends almost the entire time flirting with Power Girl, she decides to play along and it's rather funny to watch.

"Sooo, what's it like being the hottest millionaire out there?" Wally asks with no shame as he leans on the Javelin. Jay looks at him with an arched brow and shakes his head.

"Oh, I wouldn't know, I'm not Bruce Wayne," Karen answers nonchalantly. "You should ask him or Diana, they'd give you better answers."

"I wasn't talking about Bruce," Wally continues.

Karen leans over to me. "Watch this," Karen whispers. "Wally, my eyes are up here."

The speedster's face becomes almost as red as his hair as he looks waaay up, like, above Karen's head up. "Whoa! Whoa! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that! Please don't kill me!"

Donna sighs and grabs Wally by the back of his suit. "Sorry about that. I'll make sure Wally writes you a one-thousand-word apology that has actual meaning as soon as possible," she then lowers the ramp of the Javelin and pushes him inside. "Come on, perv."

"I'm not a perv!" He shouts as he, Donna, our Karen, Roy, and Lilith enter the Javelin.

"Did he really look there?" I ask.

Damage takes off his mask, revealing a handsome young man with brown hair and blue eyes. Huh, guess his face hasn't been scarred yet. "No, Karen just loves to play that prank on people. For a Kryptonian, she's pretty sadistic with her jokes."

"Hey, if I got it, may as well use it," Karen says. "I think we should get going now. Dai, I'll come over for as long as I can, tell Ma and Pa that?"

I nod. "You got it."

She smiles and hugs me before heading into their Javelin. Before he follows, Mr. Grant looks at me and Kory. "No training this week you two, enjoy your first Christmas on Earth."

"Thank you, Mr. Grant," we both say.

He just sighs. "What did I say?"

"Thank you, Ted," we correct.

The JSA then enters their Javelin and they fly away, the Hive Five locked up with power dampening collars in the back of their jet as they head over to Belle Reve. Just hope Mammoth and Shimmer don't break out again.

As the rest of us Teen Titans enter our Javelin, Garth lightly punches my shoulder to get my attention. "So, how'd things go with your new rival? We sure as hell felt it."

"Yeah, sorry about that," I apologize. "He was a lot stronger than expected. I shouldn't have held back from the start."

I hear Roy begin to speak, but Donna gives him a look and he begrudgingly closes his mouth.

"So, you were going all out at the end?" Zatanna asks as I begin the flight back to San Francisco.

I shake my head. "No. If I had gone all out the base would've been destroyed."

The others look at me in awe as we fly back, Wally's the first to break the silence as he deactivates the stealth tech and lowers his cowl. "Man, now I really wanna see how strong you are."

Donna smirks and looks at him. "I wanna see that apology letter."

Wally groans in his seat. "Come on, Donna! We _just_ got in the Javelin!"

"Still wanna see it~" Donna says in a sing-song voice.

"What I wanna know is how your guys' fights went," Lilith says, changing the subject and getting a thankful nod from Wally.

That seems to be enough for the others. Donna quickly begins to tell the story of her and Zatanna's fight with Jinx. Which leads to everyone else telling their stories.

I smile slightly and continue the flight back to Titans Tower.

* * *

**Titans Tower**

**Donna**

Daichi lands the Javelin in our bay, once the jet powers down, Roy immediately gets up and walks out of the jet. The others don't seem to notice, and all get up and follow him to the elevator, though Daichi stays at the back of the group, a small smile on his face.

As the others walk by, I wait until he stands next to me and hold his hands. "What's up?" He asks.

I give him a concerned look before slowly bringing my hand up and cupping his cheek. There was a deep gash there earlier, bleeding profusely too, and now it's gone. His healing factor's a special power, but dangerous too.

"Donna?" He asks. "You okay?"

How do I bring up Roy? According to Dai, their talk at Ollie's cabin didn't work out, and the way Roy's been during the flight proves nothing good's gonna happen. I'll find a way to bring it up later, now I'll focus on something else.

"Yeah, it's just- Daichi, do you not care about yourself?" I ask.

His eyes widen a little as he takes a step back. "W-what?"

"I mean, yes, you're practically invincible and have a very effective healing factor, but I feel like you use that to excuse your recklessness," I explain. "The Gordanian ship, Dr. Light's device. You keep putting yourself in harm's way, using your healing factor as an excuse."

"Donna, that's what a hero does," he replies.

"And if your healing factor doesn't work?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Energy shield. But Donna, this isn't what you wanna talk about, is it?"

"What makes you say that?" I ask. Please tell me he didn't just read my mind.

"Well, for one, you're a horrible liar. Your heartrate picked up and you can't look me in the eyes right now. That and you don't seem so steadfast. For as long as I've known you, everything you said, you said with pure conviction," he tucks some hair behind my ear. "What's wrong?"

"…Roy," I say. "He won't listen to you, and we were lucky now, but in the future his hate's gonna get someone hurt or killed, but he's too stubborn to listen to you!" I sigh and rest my head on Daichi's shoulder. "The hell are we supposed to do?"

"We don't do anything," I look up and give Daichi a confused look. "He's angry with me for a number of things, but me and you is what he's most angry about. So, you talk to him, you're the one he was after, you're the only one he'll listen to."

I stare up at Daichi and blink in confusion a little before dropping my head on his shoulder again. "I'm an idiot."

"No, you're not," he assures.

I smile before leaning up and kissing him. "But you're a genius. See you in a bit!" I quickly fly out and head towards the elevator, not even waiting for Daichi as I go up to the top floor.

The elevator doors open, and I find the others all over the place, Lilith and Garth in the kitchen, the former putting band-aids on her boyfriend's cuts, Karen and Kory watching TV to get a breather, Wally putting that mask on the souvenir shelf, and Zatanna getting something to drink from the fridge.

Garth is the first to notice me. "Debrief in ten minutes. Where's Daichi?"

"Still in the hangar," I answer. I look around and he isn't in sight. "Where's Roy?"

Garth arches a brow but shrugs. "Not in his room, so where else could he be?"

"Gym, got it. Thanks, Garth," I say as I head back to the elevator.

The doors open to show Daichi inside, he walks out just as I walk in. "Not here?"

"He's in the gym," I say.

Daichi nods as the doors close and I head down to Roy's location. The doors open and I walk out to find Roy firing arrow after arrow into multiple targets, not taking the time to breathe. All shots hit the bullseye, but some are more centered then others, showing just how out of it he really is.

"Roy," I softly say.

He pauses as he reaches for another arrow and slowly turns around to face me. "Donna. What're you doing here?"

I look him in the eyes and stand my ground. "I'm here to talk to you. About what's going on lately."

"Oh, so Daichi can't do this himself then?" Roy sneers.

"You aren't listening to him!" I shout, surprising Roy and having him take a step back. I calm down and continue with a softer voice, "Roy, you need to understand, I'm with Daichi now, it was my choice, you can't be mad at him for something I chose."

"But why him? I've known you for years and you've never once looked at me the way you do him," Roy softly says.

Gods, Donna, how did you never notice this before? "You wanna know something, Roy? When I first met you, I had the biggest crush on you," his head shoots up and I can see the hope in his eyes. The same hope I'm about to crush. "Then I got to know you, and that crush faded away. Now you're one of my best friends, and I don't want to lose you just because I'm with someone else."

The light in his eyes dims as he looks away. Gods, I'm evil. "What did you feel when you first met Daichi?"

"It's hard to explain," I admit. "From the get-go he intrigued me—the peak of humanity who wasn't even born on humankind's home world? That'd get anyone's attention. But then I got to know him as a person, and my feelings for him grew. Fast."

"So, you love him?" Roy quietly says.

That's…

Yeah.

Yeah, I do.

I nod and look Roy in the eyes, completely serious. "Yes, I love him. And I don't care what anyone else says. I intend to be with him for as long as possible. But I still want you to be my friend. I want you and Daichi to be friends."

"Kind of hard to be friends with the guy who stole the girl you love," Roy whispers bitterly.

I walk forward and put my hands on Roy's shoulders. "Roy, I love you, but not the way you want me to. But I bet there's a girl out there who'll love you with all her heart, and when you meet her, you'll forget all about this."

"You sure?" Roy asks.

I nod and pull him into a hug. He hugs me back tightly. "I'm sure. Now come on, the others are probably waiting for us."

Roy and I head over to the elevator. I feel a weight lifted off of my chest as I smile a little. That really helped me realize some things, but one most importantly:

I love Daichi Akiyama.

* * *

**Smallville**

**Christmas Day**

**Daichi**

"What's in here?" I ask as I hold the long, rectangular present in my hands. I try to use my x-ray vision, but it doesn't work. "You lead-lined it?"

"Daichi!" Donna slaps my shoulder. "You're not supposed to know what it is until _after _you open it."

"Right. Where'd you get the lead anyway?" I ask.

"We gave her some," Jonathan says. "We buy a lot of lead around this time of year," he explains at the curious glances.

Right now, we're at the Kent Farm, the Teen Titans, Karen, Bruce, Diana, Helena, and the unborn Wayne are here as well as Iris, Barry, their twins Henry and Dawn, Oliver, Dinah, Connor, Arthur, Mera, and their princess, Andy, and J'onn's here as well.

"Well, you gonna open it?" Wally asks impatiently.

"You gonna give Karen that letter?" I counter. Wally blushes in embarrassment as Karen laughs into her hand. I put the box down and tear off the wrapping, revealing a black and white electric guitar underneath. "Whoa."

"During our date at the mall I noticed you looking at it. But I bought you a better model. Hope you're good with that," Donna says.

"Donna, I'm great with this!" I say as I look over the box.

"Oh, hell," Barry whispers.

"What?" Wally asks.

Barry sighs and goes outside with J'onn, the two then come back in with a few boxes.

Wally gets up and uses his superspeed to unwrap them all at basically the same time. "Duuude! I got a drum kit!"

Dick, Garth, Roy, and I all stand next to Wally and look at his drums. "Nice," Dick compliments.

Wally looks at me with a smile. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

I shrug. "Yeah, why not?"

Wally pumps his fist. "Hell yeah! The Brave and the Bold!"

"I didn't agree to tha-"

"We are gonna be so famous, bro!" Wally interrupts as he puts an arm around my shoulder and forces me closer to him. "Think about it, me and you, two twins, separated at birth, reunited by their love of music and are now travelling the world, sharing their talents with everyone!"

When we did the whole thing to find out my age Earth-wise, we found out I was born on the same day as Wally, November 11th, 1994. Which happens to be my birthday before I became Daichi, just six years earlier. I'm a few hours older than Wally though.

"Wally, no one would even believe we're twins," I reason. "It'd be hard to even say we're fraternal twins."

"But who'd really care?" Wally says. He then continues with his fantasy.

As that happens, the others continue to give each other gifts. Iris then gives a gift to Wally, which lets me go and get my gift for Donna.

I stand behind her as she and Diana talk, her older sister notices me and smiles before stepping away to talk with Lois about their upcoming children, who'll be born a week apart, Lois' first then Diana's. Wild.

I hold the box out in front of me with a nervous smile. "I hope you'll like it."

"Daichi, any gift from you I'll love," she says as she takes the box out of my hands.

Donna tears off the wrapping and gasps as she looks at the box with a careful eye. "Holy shit. You really bought it…"

"Uh, yeah. On that same date I noticed you looking at it, and there was you complaining about your current camera beginning to fail you, so I bought this one," I smile a little. "Merry Christmas."

Donna hugs me tightly and kisses my cheek. "Merry Christmas, Daichi."

She then pulls out of the hug and looks over my shoulder, she has a big smile on her face as she slowly backs away.

I turn around to see Clark and Lois in front of me, a simple folder in their hands. Knowing Lois, I don't even risk x-ray vision, she'd find a way to punish me for it. "What's this?" I ask.

"Oh, you know, just something Clark and I have been thinking about for a while now," Lois shrugs.

"And we thought, why not now, with all of our friends and family here and on Christmas no less. Here, Daichi," Clark gives me the folder.

I notice the others watching as I slowly take the folder and open it. Whoa, what?

Dick looks over my shoulder as he drinks his eggnog. His eyes widen and he nearly coughs up his drink all over the folder and my shirt. "Whoa, bro…"

Garth and Roy look over my other shoulder. "Huh. Congrats, man!" The former says.

"What? What is it?" Iris asks as she tries to keep Henry from running around, what with there being a fireplace currently being burning right now.

Iris is a redhaired woman with green eyes and some freckles along the bridge of her nose, which really helps show her relation with her nephew Wally. She wears brown boots, blue jeans, and a green and white coat.

"It's adoption papers," I answer as I turn it around to show the others.

Pretty much everyone but the Kents, Karen Starr, Bruce, Diana, and Donna look surprised.

I look at my girlfriend with a raised brow. "You knew."

"When Martha, Lois, and I went to the store," she explains. "So, what do you say?"

I look back at it before looking back up at Lois and Clark. I nod with a smile. "Yeah, let's do it."

There're some cheers as Lois and Clark pull me into a hug and Lois kisses me on the cheek.

One hell of a Christmas present.

* * *

A few hours later and the guests start to leave, with Bruce, Diana, Helena, Dick, Donna, Kory, Oliver, Dinah, Connor, and Roy being the last ones.

As Marth- Ma, gives them some food to take home, I notice Roy standing next to the stairs, watching as Helena plays with Jon for a bit before she has to leave.

I put my guitar down and run to my room in Titans Tower before coming back and standing in front of Roy. I nod to the door and the two of us head to the porch. "What's this?" He asks.

"It's my present to you. And a peace offering," I answer. "I know you had a thing for Donna way before I came into the picture, but I'm not sorry about us dating. I've never been happier in my entire life. But you shouldn't worry, there's-"

"Someone for me too, I know. Donna said the same thing," he then rummages through his coat pocket and pulls a small rectangular object, wrapped up. "Here's my peace offering then."

The two of us swap presents and remove the wrappings. "Huh, I've always wanted to read this," I comment as I look at Sun Tzu's _Art of War._

"Yeah, Dinah said that'd be a great present for you, what with your tactical mind and all," he then looks over the golden bow in his hands. "What's so special about this bow?"

"It's an Orin Sun Bow. They're capable of piercing almost anything and creating their own arrows with the power of the sun. Though I wouldn't use it too much, they take a decade to recharge if they run out completely," I warn.

"Damn," Roy presses a button and the bow folds, now small enough to fit in his massive coat pocket. "Thanks, for that. And sorry about being an asshole for these past few months," he holds a hand out. "We cool?"

I shake his hand. "We cool."

"Aww, look at them being friends again," we turn to see the guests waiting at the door with smiles on most of their faces. Oliver being the one who spoke up. "You see that Connor? Try to make friends with everyone, okay?"

Connor looks up at his dad and nods. "Okay!"

"Well, we're out. See you later, Kent," Roy says with a small smile as he walks with his family.

"See you later, Harper," I wave as they get in their car and begin the long drive to Star City.

"We should go too. We've been out of Gotham for too long," Bruce, with Helena currently on his back, says. "Thank you for having us."

"It's no problem, dear. You all have a safe trip!" Ma says as they begin to leave.

Before she goes with them, Donna kisses me deeply. "I love you, Daichi Akiyama-Kent."

My heart skips a beat.

Definitely didn't expect that, but it sounds so right.

I smile and caress her cheek. "I love you too, Donna Troy. See you later."

She smiles before walking over with the others, I smile and watch as they drive away.

"Pretty big day for you, huh?" Cl- Dad says as he leans on the wooden railing next to me.

"Yeah, pretty big. So, what's next on the agenda, Dad?" I ask.

"Next we enjoy the day. We'll get to finalizing the adoption as soon as possible and then you can officially be a Kent," he puts a hand on my shoulder with a large smile. "Now let's spend some time with the family."

I smile and follow him inside.

Today's a great day.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

Brother Blood's submarine pulls up in the complex, once he steps out, he is immediately attended to by multiple cultists.

"Brother Blood," the one on his right begins with a bow. "We have found her."

Brother Blood smirks as he and the cultists exit the hangar and walks through massive doors, on the other side is a large number of cultists of many ranks, from recruits to White Cell assassins.

They all get up and bow deeply as Brother Blood walks to the center of the room. Once their leader stands on the podium in the center, he raises his hands high.

"Brothers, sisters, today is a day of triumphs and defeats. Today, our planned metahuman strike force, the Hive Five, failed, but something even greater has arrived. For we have found the Daughter of Trigon, in Detroit, Michigan. Rachel Roth, has been found!" Brother Blood announces.

The crowd cheers and Brother Blood smirks as he turns around and heads through the doors behind him.

"Today is a great day."

**Battle of the Teams Arc, complete; Nevermore Arc, commence.**

* * *

**Woo! This last chapter took a bit to write, but it's finally done! **

**The third arc's complete and soon it's time to introduce one of the more well-known Titans, Raven! This arc was fun to write though—introducing two new members to the Teen Titans and writing a sub-plot over your everyday superhero problem. And the whole thing with the Kent's is finally revealed! Now it might seem quick for Daichi to call Lois and Clark "Mom and Dad", but Daichi never had any good role models while in space, and more that'll be revealed throughout the story. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time, you beautiful people! **


	13. Once Upon a Midnight Dreary

**Man, it feels pretty damn good to write this story again. **

**Merry late Christmas, Kwanza, Hannukah, and other December related holidays! Hope yesterday was a good day for you, and days in the future are also great. And happy Boxing Day to those of you who celebrate it!**

**Before we get into it, I watched **_**Wonder Woman 1984**_** yesterday. Was a good movie, I think the first was better in my opinion, but I still enjoyed it. But damn did Pedro Pascal kill it. And that man's been killing it lately, **_**The Mandalorian**_** season two ended just last week, and **_**WW84**_** just yesterday, I'm pretty sure the Sharkboy and Lavagirl sequel came out yesterday too on Netflix. Let's go Pedro Pascal, talk about a great end to the year for him. **

**Here we are with the Nevermore Arc, which'll introduce one of the more well-known Titans—Raven! So, this arc will take some elements from **_**Titans**_** and we'll even get some history of Daichi. **

**Quick PSA: So, on my account there's a poll I've posted regarding **_**A Sinister Past**_** about the overhaul. It's about whether or not to post it in two parts or all at once, go to my profile and check it out. When the final chapter of the X Arc is finished with editing, I'll wait three weeks after, and whatever the results of the poll are I might post 'em or not, we'll see.**

**Also, I **_**may**_** be writing an Avengers fanfic, and I'm **_**hypothetically**_** wondering, who'd be a better love interest: Scarlet Witch or Spider Woman? You know, just wondering, that's all.**

**Man, I've never had this much trouble choosing a love interest before. That's new. **

**All right, time to reply to some reviews!**

**Pa7adox: **Yeah, it was a big ol' let's do it. Before meeting the Kents, Daichi didn't have the best adults around him. And I hope Raven is to your liking!

**Mugiii:** Yeah, so the thumb drive has a lot of data on the people who are looking for Daichi, but Batman will get back on him when the time comes.

**Devin Devin:** Well, _anyone_ would be surprised if they were suddenly kissed, doesn't matter who you are. That and he didn't have the most romantic of lives in his previous life. And yeah, Donna's strong, something that'll become important near the end of the story.

**I honestly don't have much to say up here, so, on with the story!**

* * *

**Once Upon a Midnight Dreary**

**Space, Earth Date, 2005**

_The boy screams in pain as the lightning arcs through his body. _

_It goes on for a long time before eventually coming to a halt. His body smokes as he takes deep breaths. "Please…stop," the lightning shoots through his body again. The boy seizes up and shouts in pain as the electrocution continues._

"_Hmmm…" the man with red-purple hair hums. "Subject 111's pain threshold seems to have increased by double compared to last time the electro-shock test was done. Promising," the man then frowns. "Though his mental thresholds could do with improvement. Training will commence soon." _

_The boy groans as the lightning stops. The shackles around his arms and legs unlock, instead of falling to the ground, the boy slowly floats and stands in front of the red-purple haired man. _

"_Why are you doing this?" The boy whispers. Rubbing at the barcode-like mark on his right wrist, the number 111 under it._

_The red-purple haired man smirks as the door opens and a green alien with a vaguely humanoid shape walks in. "Why to make you the best there is, my boy," he then steps aside, letting the green alien sit down in front of the boy, he does the same. "Now, let's work on your telepathy."_

_The green alien's eyes glow red. The boy winces but his eyes begin to glow orange. Though, even with his defenses, the alien's mental assault slowly breaks down his walls until eventually it breaks through. _

_The boy screams._

* * *

**May 2011**

Rachel Roth screams as she shoots up in bed, clutching her head in pain as she feels the sweat run down her face.

"Dammit…" she whispers. Rachel throws the blanket off her legs and sits down on her bed, her feet touching the floor.

She goes to wipe the sweat off her forehead, but winces as soon as her hand makes contact. It felt like she was shocked. Her hand shakily comes to rest in her lap as she thinks back to the dream. Or vision. Whatever.

Rachel looks at the alarm clock at her bedside drawer, it reads 6:57 AM. "May as well," she whispers to herself.

She sighs before getting up and shakily walking over to her closet door, her head aches the entire time. She eventually reaches the door and opens it. Rachel looks at the mirror on the other side of the door and comes face to face with herself.

A small, fourteen-year-old pale skinned girl with short, chin length black hair with dyed purple streaks and blue eyes with bags underneath. She's wearing a black shirt and white short shorts.

For the past few weeks Rachel's been getting visions of the boy in space, and all the "training" (Though it was obviously torture) he had undergone. Rachel is disgusted by these visions, almost immediately after his birth, he was put through a grueling training simulation that she'd think even Batman would have a hard time completing. And that was when he still looked like a baby.

Rachel sighs as she picks out some clothes for the school day—dark blue skinny jeans, a white and black striped shirt, and her favorite purple and gray hoodie.

As she gets ready to shower, her door opens, and her adoptive mother, Melissa Wolfman, looks inside with a worried look in her eyes. "Rachel? Are you okay, honey?"

Rachel nods. "I'm fine, Mom, yes."

Melissa doesn't look convinced. "You sure? I heard screaming."

"Just a nightmare, that's all," Rachel shoots off. She then sniffs the air. "You're cooking breakfast?"

"Yeah, waffles, some toast, basic stuff," she pauses for a moment. "I know I'm not the best, but-"

"I bet it'll be delicious, thank you," Rachel says with a small, barely seen smile. "I'm gonna take a shower, see you in the kitchen."

"Right, see you…" Melissa trails off as Rachel exits her room to the bathroom. Once her adoptive daughter is gone, Melissa looks up at the ceiling above her bed.

An upside-down A without the middle line is burnt into the ceiling.

* * *

Rachel blankly stares at her phone as she slowly eats her breakfast.

As she washes the dishes, Melissa occasionally looks outside for the school bus. "You know, if you keep up the pace, you won't have time to eat all your breakfast."

"Or I'll just miss the bus and have to walk to school," Rachel counters. "That could happen."

Melissa sighs and dries her hands as she finishes washing the dishes. "Rachel, you can't constantly be late for school, it isn't good. I've gotten calls from the principal about your attendance record."

"Oooh, so scared," Rachel deadpans.

Melissa folds her arms and gives Rachel a stern glare. "You should be. If you don't go to school on time for the rest of the year, no more library for the Summer."

Rachel's eyes widen as she nearly chokes on her orange juice. "WHAT!?"

"You heard me."

"Y-you can't do that!" Rachel shouts.

"I can, and I will if you don't listen to me," Melissa shrugs.

Rachel grits her teeth and clenches her fist. "You don't get it, Mom, I _need_ to go to the library. I don't need school! Do you have any idea what they say about me when they think I can't hear? Hell, they talk shit about me when they know I can!"

"Rachel…" Melissa warns.

"No!" The house rattles as some of the recently dried dishes float a little. Melissa's eyes widen as she looks around and begins to silently pray. "The library is one of the onlyplaces where I can be me, which is something you always tell me to do! And now you're taking away my one bastion!?"

"O-okay, Rachel, calm down. Remember, Azarath Metrion Zinthos?" Melissa stutters as she watches Rachel's eyes flicker with black energy. "We can talk about this, okay? J-just calm dow-"

The school bus stops in front of their house. Rachel gets up, grabs her backpack and marches outside, seething silently the entire time.

As the door slams closed the dishes and everything not bolted down come to rest, Melissa lets out a breath as she slowly sits down on the ground. She pulls out her rosary beads and silently prays for a moment before calming down. Melissa then opens her eyes and shakily gets up, she then walks up to the table and looks at where Rachel slammed her fist down, a matching mark can be seen on the table.

"I'm sorry, Angela, she's getting out of control," Melissa holds back a sob. "I don't know how much longer I can hide her for."

* * *

Rachel glares the entire time as she marches to the back of the bus. The obnoxious students who somehow find the energy to be loud so early in the morning do even more to annoy her now than usual.

Rachel then falls over as she's tripped and the students watching all laugh as she slowly gets back up. Rachel just grumbles before continuing to the back of the bus. She then finds a window seat on the right side and sits down.

A skinny boy with crazy brown hair looks at her and whispers some words of encouragement to himself before turning to Rachel. "Hi! I'm-" Her glare stops him cold. "N-never mind."

Rachel sighs deeply before putting her earbuds in and starting her audio book.

'_This is gonna be a long day.'_

* * *

**Metropolis**

**Daichi **

I groan and hold my head as I wake up and sit up in my bed.

Why'd I dream of that again? The lightning, the Martian, it was hell.

Dammit.

I get out of bed and grab some clothes for after my shower. While I shower, my thoughts drift back to the dream. Or nightmarish memory, whichever sounds more appropriate.

I was what? Ten, when that happened? Everything I went through just to get to here was hell. I mean, from a certain point of view, it was worth it, but from my point of view I see no reason for it. If I'm supposed to be the peak of humans, then why go through so much to be at my current level? Shouldn't I have already been this powerful?

I need to tell someone this, that's what Mom and Dad advised. But who do I tell?

I turn off the shower and stand in front of the mirror. I wipe the condensation away on the mirror and look at myself. For a moment, I see the me before the Evolutionary, and I clench my fist, but phantom pain of the lightning goes up my arm. I flinch and nearly destroy the sink before reeling myself in. Don't break the sink, there'd be questions.

I calm down and brush my teeth and get my hair cleaned up before grabbing my backpack and heading out to the balcony. I then vibrate to become invisible to the naked eye and begin the flight to Happy Harbor.

Man, I hope today isn't gonna be a long day.

* * *

**Michigan**

Rachel sighs in annoyance as the one-minute bell goes off, meaning she's going to be late to third period. Then again, Rachel doesn't really care, it's computer science, and she's not one for science of any kind.

She pulls her books out of her locker and slams it shut, and on the other side of the locker door is the same brown-haired boy on the bus.

"…Yes?" Rachel asks.

"Uh, hi," the brown-haired boy shakily holds his hand out to shake. "M-my name's Roger. I-I-I've noticed you around and how no one talks to you," he winces. "I mean! No! Sorry!"

Rachel arches a brow.

Roger winces before continuing. "Um… So, like, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while, but, well, the time never came up you know. What with me being busy all the time and stuff, you know?"

"Busy with that?" Rachel asks.

Roger pales a little and gulps. "Y-you know, stuff!"

Rachel's stare becomes deadpan. "What kind of "stuff"?"

For some reason, Rachel feels fear and uncertainty, all from Roger.

This isn't the first time she thought she felt someone else's emotions, but even after years of this, she still has no idea how it works.

Before he can continue, a teacher turns the corner and finds the two. "What are you two doing out in the hallway? Third period started three minutes ago!"

Roger quickly turns around and claps his hands together. "Sorry, sir! So sorry sir!" He then runs off to class.

"No running in the halls!" The teacher shouts. Roger slows to a fast walk.

Rachel shrugs and turns around, heading to her computer science class.

As she walks, Rachel feels more emotions, hints of anger and annoyance, these emotions from the teacher.

Rachel shrugs and sighs in annoyance herself as she heads over to computer science. Absolutely hating today.

* * *

**Happy Harbor**

I pick at my food as we eat lunch, Donna's friends who have now joined our group with us, and Kimiyo has returned as well. She tells us she was on an emergency trip to Japan, something about her grandparents, but her heartbeat was giving her away during her explanation.

I think she has her light powers. Considering the fact that I absorbed the device and then discharged it when she managed to sneak up on me all those months ago. She's keeping it secret for now, so I'll respect her privacy. When she wants to tell us, she will, it's just a matter of time.

Right now, Sasha's talking about something, I'm not really paying attention, and the others are wholly engrossed in her story.

I grit my teeth and clench my fist around the fork in my right hand as she continues to tell her story, something the other Titans notice.

"So, Roy, Kimiyo, graduations coming soon for you two. How's it feel?" Karen asks.

"I can't wait," Roy answers. "To finally be out of here and free to do whatever I want sounds like a dream come true."

"You aren't going to college?" Kimiyo asks.

"Never felt like my kind of thing," Roy shrugs.

"What're you gonna do for a career then?" Lilith asks.

"I don't know, security maybe?" Roy smiles wistfully as an idea comes to mind. ""Bowhunter Security" … Yeah, I like the sound of that. What about you, Kimiyo? Going to college?"

She nods. "Yeah, I plan on studying astronomy. I mean, aliens were proved real during World War II with Hawkman and Hawkgirl, so it'd be cool to see who else is out there."

"Y'know, that makes me wonder, how do those two look the same? They were on the Justice Society during World War II, right? And now they're on the Justice League and they don't look like they've aged a day," Naomi asks.

"Well, same can be said for Wonder Woman, she was on the Justice Society too. Actually, she first appeared in World War I, remember?" Donna points out with a proud smile.

"Who knows, maybe the Hawks are shapeshifters, like Martian Manhunter," Karen theorizes.

I get a quick headache as the Martian comes back to my mind. I grit my teeth and hold back a groan as my hand holding Donna's under the table tightens. In response, Donna rubs her thumb over my hand, which does a lot to calm down the pain.

The bell to end lunch rings, as our non-superhero friends say bye and head to their classes that leaves me with my Titans friends.

Lilith looks at me in concern. "Daichi, are you okay? When Karen mentioned J'onn, you had a mental spike, nearly made me fall over."

Roy folds his arms. "Yeah, and during Sasha's story you looked out of it."

"Dai?" Donna asks.

"I-it's nothing, really," I try to wave off. They don't look convinced. I sigh before rubbing the back of my head. "I'll tell you guys later, at the Tower when everyone's around, okay?"

They look like they want to push it, but eventually agree and head off to their lockers. Donna walks with me to my locker and looks at me occasionally with a concerned glance. "Daichi, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just a lot of bad memories, that's all," I reply. "Nothing to worry about. How's Damian?"

"You're changing the subject," Donna says, but she sighs and smiles. "He's the cutest nephew ever. Takes a lot after Bruce though, even if he is a few months old. How's Lara?"

This time I smile. "Cute. Cries a lot during the night and almost never sleeps though, but I'm not complaining."

"Of course, you wouldn't," Donna then leans over and kisses me on the cheek. "I'm off to class, but if you ever need me, I'm one mental call away. I love you."

I kiss her quickly on the lips before getting my stuff for chemistry. "I love you too."

I sigh as I watch Donna walk away. The feeling of lightning coursing through me comes back, and the mental assault as well. Thankfully, it's not as bad as it was all those years ago, I can bear it. Though if I have to go through this all day, then I hate today.

* * *

**Titans Tower**

"One, two, three, four!" Wally counts, hitting his drumsticks together with each number.

Wally goes all out on the drums as I strum my guitar from Donna. The two of us do our own cover of Bloody Tears from _Castlevania._ I notice a flash of light but ignore it as Wally and I continue our cover.

Now, we're on the roof of the Tower, my guitar's powered by Zatanna's magic and she was also able to bring Wally's drums up here.

It's been a great five months since our fight with the Hive Five. Donna and I realized our love for each other, my friendship with Roy's gotten better, and I have a family now, a family I love.

Dad's currently on a deep-space mission with Martian Manhunter, Shazam, and Hal Jordan, while Mom's in Africa working on an assignment. Which leaves Jon and Lara (the newborn baby) with Ma and Pa in Smallville.

It's interesting, having the house to myself. Though sometimes it sucks, what with the team (mainly the guys) coming over and having impromptu parties for the past two weeks. At least the walls are thick, who knows how many noise complaints we'd get.

Eventually, the song comes to a stop. As the others clap and Donna takes some more pictures, Wally holds a palm out. "Dude, hit it."

We high five. "You're really good on the drums, Wall," I compliment.

"And you kill it on the guitar, Dai!" He compliments back.

"So, I take it the Brave and the Bold's never gonna get a singer?" Dick asks.

Wally and I share a look. I mean, the thought's crossed our minds, but I'm not exactly confident in my singing voice, and Wally tends to sing too fast to understand.

We then look at the others and shrug.

"I bet you have a beautiful signing voice, Daichi," Donna compliments. "But now we're gonna talk about what happened at school."

I frown and put my guitar down. Should've seen that one coming.

Zatanna (who doesn't go to Happy Harbor High like Dick and Wally) looks around confused. "What happened at school?"

"Daichi here was out of it the entire day," Lilith says. "He'd have mental spikes throughout the day that gave me headaches too."

"Whoa, you two okay?" Zee asks.

"Yeah, I-" I notice Donna's look. I sigh before sitting down. Dammit, the hell is this so hard for? My head explodes in pain and I cry out as the phantom pain hits, this time a lot harder than before.

I feel Lilith's presence in my mind, and she soothes the pain. I slowly open my eyes to see the others looking at me concerned.

I sigh deeply before scratching the back of my head. "The Evolutionary—the guy who made me—was a scientist through and through, everything was an experiment and needed a reason to him. Hell, the name "Daichi Akiyama" was something I chose, for the longest time I was just "Subject 111"."

I show them the underside of my right wrist, and after flaring up some energy, the barcode with the number 111 under it.

"How'd you come up with your name?" Karen asks after tearing her eyes away from the code.

"I don't know, it just seemed like a good name," I shrug. I sigh deeply and nearly choke on my words. I don't like this, remembering my time there. It was hell. I bring my arm down to my lap and clench my fist.

Donna puts her hand over my clenched fist. "When you have a problem, it's best to face it, Dai, not ignore it."

"Yeah, and we're all here for you, bro, like you are for us," Wally adds, his hand on my shoulder.

"Right, right," I take a deep breath. Okay, Daichi, let's do this.

"I was the Evolutionary's prize project, the ultimate human. Because of that I'd gone through some intense training—I'd have my energy drained then I'd be left on a desert planet for months, I'd fight guys I'd normally have no chance against right after, mental assaults left, right, and center, that kind of stuff."

"Jesus," Dick whispers. "I don't think even Bruce could survive that."

"Yeah… It's the only reason I am who I am now," I look at my hands, energy builds off of them. "I don't know…in the end it was worth it, I guess, but at the time it was hell," I clench my fists tightly. "I hated it."

"And these memories? I've been seeing glimpses of a Martian. There aren't a lot left, not after the Great Fire J'onn told me about," Lilith adds.

"Another one of the Evolutionary's projects, an evolved Martian. I haven't heard from him in a long time. Don't think I ever want to see him again. I might do something I'd regret in the future," I whisper.

The others are silent for a long time. I get up and grab my guitar. Another flare of energy on my wrist and the code is gone. "I'm gonna go home. Sorry for bringing things down."

"No, it's cool man," Dick says as he jumps in front of me. "In fact, thanks for telling us, brings us closer, you know. But if you wanna go home, that's also cool. If you're gonna hop on _Halo _tonight be sure to tell us, we can play some forge."

Donna slides in and holds my arm. "Actually, Daichi and I have a date planned, so yeah, no _Halo_."

"Oh, right. Sorry about forgetting, Donna," I apologize.

"It's no problem, you had other things on your mind," she smiles. "C'mon, let's gooo!"

"Right," Roy says as he gets up and wipes his pants. "Well, may as well go patrol in Star City. See you guys later."

"I should go to Atlantis, practice my magic," Garth says.

"Ooh! Let me come with!" Zatanna quickly shouts excitedly. "I wanna see Atlantean magic!"

"You see Atlantean magic from me," Garth points out.

"Yeah, but I wanna see a master at work!" Zatanna bounces excitedly in place.

Garth deadpans but sighs and shakes his head in defeat. "Yeah, sure."

"I wish I could go, but I've got homework," Lilith says as we head inside and near the teleporters.

"I shall go to Themiscyra," Kory says. "Your mother wishes to train me in the Amazon ways."

"I'd be careful if I were you, Kory, Mother's lectures can drag on, and trust me, you'll wish you were somewhere else halfway through," Donna warns with a smile.

"Diana said the same thing," Kory tilts her head. "Is there something wrong with your mother's lectures?"

Donna puts her hand on Kory's shoulder. "You'll see," she and I then step on the teleporter. "Well, we're off first. See you guys later."

We say goodbye. Though something does catch my attention: as we teleport away, I notice mischievous smirks on Donna's and Lilith's faces.

I should be worried.

* * *

**Metropolis**

**A Few Hours Later**

"You sure you don't wanna fly to Gotham together?" I ask Donna as we enter the apartment.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Donna nods. She wears a black skirt and red shirt with a white jacket and some high heels. She then looks around. "When are Lois and Clark coming back anyway?"

"Mom should be back next week. Not so sure about Dad," I answer as I take off my jacket and then hers and put them on the coat rack. "What?" I ask when I notice Donna's smile.

"You've taken to calling them "mom and dad" pretty quick, huh?" She explains.

"Y-yeah. Like I said, I didn't have the best upbringing. And to have those two take me in and care for me like they're own… Well, it wasn't hard to start calling them that," I answer as I sheepishly scratch my cheek.

Donna laughs lightly. "There's nothing to be ashamed about, Daichi. In fact, I think it's cute. I'm gonna head to the bathroom, there're some things I gotta check out."

"Right. I'm just gonna be here, doing whatever," I reply. Donna smiles before heading to the bathroom.

I stand around awkwardly for a bit before heading over to the couch and flopping down on it.

Huh, seemed pretty immediate, but the memories, the phantom pain, never came up again after telling the others about it, wasn't even on my mind during the date. But I really did it, told them a part of my life before Earth. It feels…good. But so much more happened, I'm not ready to tell them, not yet. Maybe someday.

And who knows, I might even tell them everything. No, not "might", I will. I just hope the reactions won't be bad. Especially Donna's.

"Daichi! Come here real quick! I've gotta show you something!"

Huh? Sounds like she's in my room. But what's she need in there? Well, only one way to find out.

I get up and head to my room, the fixed door is now closed. I furrow my brows and slowly reach for the doorknob. Maybe she's trying to prank me again, bucket of bricks on the frame, I open the door and they all fall on my head. Wouldn't be the first time.

I open the door and Donna's arms wrap around my neck and pull me into a deep kiss. My eyes widen for a moment before they slowly close as I hold Donna close to me. One of her hands moves up and gets tangled in my hair as the kiss intensifies. Donna moans in pleasure as one of my hands moves lower and the other rests on the back of her neck.

Eventually, the two of us pull back, and her hooded, ocean blue eyes look into my orange ones. "Gods, you're a great kisser."

We go at it again. When we pull back again, I slowly bring the hand on the back of her neck to her cheek and caress just under her eye with my thumb. "What's this about?"

One of Donna's hands stays tangled in my hair, the other rests on my chest. "I love you, Daichi. And… I'll just get to the point: I want to be with you tonight. I want you to be my first, and I want to be yours."

My eyes widen in surprise.

Oh.

Oh man, she just said that.

"And no, this isn't to comfort you because of your memories," Donna says, bringing my attention back to the moment. "I've been planning this for a while, actually-"

"Wait, that smirk Lilith had when we teleported away. She knows!?" I ask in surprise.

Donna chuckles. "Well, she _is_ my best friend. What, are you not gonna tell Garth about this first chance you get?"

"N-no! If anything, Lilith's probably gonna tell him, even if nothing happens," I whisper.

That was the wrong thing to say.

Donna's smirk quickly falls, and she looks downcast in sadness. "Oh. Sorry, this might be too much, huh? I-I'll just go-"

I interrupt her by pulling her into a deep kiss. After it's done, I look into her eyes, the world around us seems to vanish. "But if you're sure, then something will happen."

Donna's eyes seem to search mine. One of her hands slowly unbuttons my shirt as I begin to take off her top. "Something _will_ happen," she declares.

Something definitely happened.

* * *

**Michigan, a few hours ago**

"Mom, I'm home," Rachel announces as she enters her house.

"R-Rachel? Come to the kitchen, please?" Melissa says.

Rachel pauses for a moment. She feels fear from Melissa. Intense fear. Rachel also noticed the red SUV at the neighbor's house, one she's never seen before.

Rachel puts her backpack down carefully and slowly walks to the kitchen, here she finds her mom standing in front of the backdoor, behind her is a massive, bald man wearing a black suit with a blood red tie, a silenced pistol to the back of Melissa's head.

Rachel's eyes widen. She goes to move, but the man's hand with the gun twitches, which forces the girl to freeze. "I wouldn't to that if I were you," he warns.

"What. Do you. Want?" Rachel demands slowly. "I mean, why us? We're nobodies. Look around, asshole! We don't have money to spare!"

"I'm not here for money. I'm here for you," the man sneers.

Rachel blinks in surprise. "News flash: I'm fourteen, that means underage, pedo!"

The man arches a brow before laughing lightly and reaching down with his other hand to grab a cookie from the counter. "You didn't tell her? Smart. If she had known and decided to practice, we'd have found her a lot sooner."

"What the hell are you talking about!? Let me and my Mom go!" Rachel demands. Unbeknownst to everyone in the house, faint, black energy drifts from her clenched fists.

"Your "mom"? You lied to her about that too?" The man asks.

"N-n-no. She knows she's adopted. But I still love her like my daughter. Please, you have to understand that she has no idea about her mother. Or her father," Melissa begs. "If you leave, I promise we won't say a thing, just please, leave her out of this."

The man takes a bite out of his cookie and chews for a few, tense moments. Once he finishes, he hums. "Hmmm. No," he then shoots Melissa in the back of the head.

Rachels' eyes widen as she watches her adoptive mother's body fall to the floor. Some blood lands on her shirt and face, but Rachel doesn't notice it. Everything's silent for her, up until Melissa's body hits the floor with a sickening thud.

The man pops the other half of the cookie in his mouth and puts the gun away. "Okay, time to come with me, girl. Brother Blood has plans, and you're central to th-"

The air seems to press down on him with an oppressive force. The man grits his teeth as he finds it harder to stand up straight. He slowly reaches out to Rachel, but her eyes, now glowing white with black spots drifting away glare at him.

"**GET OUT!"**

An explosion of energy destroys the kitchen, and part of the house, but the area around Melissa's body is untouched. The man flies through the fence and slams into the neighbor's home, disoriented.

He groans and holds his head as he slowly gets up, the first thing he sees is a black pillar with a white outline shooting out of the house and into the sky. Eventually, it dies down, and once it does, the doors in the neighborhood open, all the neighbors come outside and quickly notice the destruction of the home.

The man slinks away to his car and begins to drive away, everyone in the neighborhood to busy calling the ambulance or police to notice the blood red car driving away.

Once he's a distance away, the man pulls out his phone and calls the first number on speed dial. "Hey, it's me," he says once the person on the other end picks up. "I found the girl, but she escaped… Don't worry, the mother is gone, the girl is alone… Yes, hail Trigon."

* * *

**Metropolis**

I look up at the roof of my room and wipe away the little bit of sweat that managed to build on my forehead.

My other arm is around Donna's currently naked body, holding her close to me.

Her breathing's a little ragged, and there's some sweat on her too, but she's quickly gaining control of her breath.

Her hand on my chest trails up and cups my cheek, turning my head to her. I look down to see her smiling widely. Before I can say anything, she leans up and the two of us kiss. After we pull back, she lets out a little laugh and rests her forehead on mine.

"That…was…perfect," she whispers.

I chuckle a little and tuck some hair behind her ear, she does the same for me. "Yeah…it was," I slowly sit up and get out of Donna's embrace, much to her chagrin.

"Daichiii come baaack," she whines as her arms reach out to pull me back.

I smirk and lean down to kiss her on the nose. "Sorry, but I've gotta put the blankets and sheets in the laundry. That is, unless you want to sleep in dirty sheets."

She has a thoughtful frown on her face before nodding. "That would be bad," she agrees. She then gets up and makes a show of bending over to get my shirt. She then puts it on, leaving the last three buttons open.

She turns to me with a smirk and hooded eyes before spinning around. "So, enjoy the quick show?"

I smile and get up, ignoring her wolf whistle as I put on my boxers before getting the sheets and taking them off the bed. "I enjoy anything you do," I then stop as I reach the door. "Except for your pranks on me. Not exactly a fan of those."

She smirks. "Well, now I've gotta prank you more. Maybe Wally can help with some."

I give her a blank stare before heading out to the laundry room.

Once inside, I put the sheets in the machine, smiling the entire time.

That was great. And somehow, I love her even more. Then again, that seems to be a thing, every day I just love Donna Troy more and more. Don't know how it's possible, and yet, here it is, entirely possible.

Once the machine gets going, I grab some more sheets and head back to the room. Here I find Donna looking at a photo album. "When'd you get that?" I ask as I sit down next to her.

"When you were in the laundry room for five minutes," she looks at me with a smirk. "What? Get lost in your wonderful memories of me?"

I smirk and cup her cheek, pulling her in for a kiss. "In fact, yes I did," I whisper against her lips. "Horrible pun, by the way."

Donna chuckles as she returns to looking at the photo album. "Well, I don't blame you, I am rather hard to forget. And you can't stop the puns, babe, no matter how hard you try."

I chuckle before resting my head on her shoulder, looking at a photo of Dad when he was around my age with Pa, the two in front of what looks to be Dad's first car. "This was…1997, I think."

"When was Clark born?" She asks.

"In Earth terms, February 29th, 1980. He's a leap year baby," I answer.

Donna chuckles again. "So, what? He was technically…" she pauses to count the years. "four when he got his first car?"

I shrug. "I guess so. He'd technically be seven now, too."

"Leap Year's weird," Donna comments. She then flips through more pages, one of Mom and her sister, Lucy, who I have yet to meet, when they were kids. Another of Dad, Ma, and Pa as Dad gets ready to go to Metropolis. And there's a wedding picture of Mom and Dad.

She eventually comes across a picture of me, sitting down in front of the coffee table in the living room on the ground. I have my head resting in my palm with my eyes half open as a three-year-old Jon copies my actions.

On the couch behind me is a baby girl with black hair and those interesting Kryptonian blue eyes. She's wearing pink pants with clouds on them and a red Wonder Woman t-shirt for babies. This here's Lara Kent, or Cir-El. She seems to have imprinted on me as well.

Donna coos as she turns the page back to a picture of Mom with a tired smile in the Fortress of Solitude, a newborn Lara in her arms.

"Lara's so damn cute," Donna coos.

"I know," I agree with a smile. "I think she's imprinted on me. I mean, whenever she cries and I start to hold her, she calms down almost immediately. Don't say anything, but I think Dad's a little jealous."

Donna smiles and does a zipping motion over her mouth. "Won't say a thing," she then closes the photo album, gets up, and opens the drapes in my room. She jerks back in surprise a little. "Holy shit! Daichi! It's night!"

"Yes… And?" I ask.

She turns around and points outside. "It was sunset when we started!"

I shrug and get up to put the new sheets and blankets on. "Well, we _do_ have superhuman stamina. If anything, we could've gone for longer. How long? I'm not exactly sure."

She blushes and looks bashful for once. "Yeah, let's not test that theory just yet. Otherwise, Bruce would hunt us down, and I _really _don't want him to see why we've been missing for so long."

I blush at that thought, but then blanch as another, horrible thought comes to mind.

"What?" Donna asks.

"He'd tell your sister. Then she'd tell your mother. Then your mother would tell the Amazons," I slowly sit down and stare blankly ahead. "Now, I'm strong, but I'm not sure if I can take on a whole army of super warrior women blessed by the Greek Pantheon on my own."

Donna blanches as well as she sits down next to me and takes my hands into hers. "Oh, gods… That would be horrible," she then smiles and turns my face to face hers. "But we won't worry about that right now. Now, we're going to sleep. Together. For the first time of hopefully a lot of times."

I smirk. "Aren't you worried Bruce will come looking for you?"

"With how fussy Damian is? A few hours is fine. Hopefully," Donna replies. She then slowly leans back into bed, taking me down with her. "So, let's spend the night together, Daichi Akiyama-Kent."

I kiss her one more time before turning the lights off with my telekinesis and closing the drapes. "Good night, Donna Troy."

I don't have the nightmares again. Instead, I have dreams.

* * *

**Michigan**

Rachel jumps a little as a red car drives down the street. She calms down when she peeks her head out of the alley to see it's turning the corner, and it's smaller than the one from earlier. A sports car, not an SUV.

She lets out a deep breath before leaning on the wall to keep her steady and slowly sits down. She puts her head on her knees as she closes her eyes, the image of her adoptive mother getting shot in the back of her head playing over and over in Rachel's mind.

She grits her teeth and holds back tears before getting up slowly. Rachel then wipes the blood off her face but looks down at her shirt, blood still on it.

'_Need to get new clothes, or else people are gonna ask questions,'_ she thinks. Rachel then peeks out of the alley and looks around. Thankfully, the sun's beginning to set, and the number of people on the street is shrinking, but there's still enough people out to make it hard for her to get to the store.

As Rachel looks around, she notices the red SUV coming around a corner. She quickly hides behind a trash can as it slowly drives by. She barely peeks her head out to see the windows are tinted, so she has no idea if the man even saw her.

Not taking the chance, Rachel runs out of the other side of the alley as soon as the car drives by.

Rachel exits the alley and nearly runs into a man before recovering quickly and running in another direction. When she feels she's reached a safe distance, she pulls up the hood of her hoodie and tries her best to appear small. As she walks, she ignores the looks and the questions from the people who notice the blood.

After an hour of walking aimlessly, a police car stops next to Rachel. The officer, a man with brown hair and a beard in his late forties, slowly walks up to Rachel.

"Excuse me, miss?" The officer begins. "Miss?"

Rachel looks up at the officer, her eyes wide in fear.

The officer's eyes narrow a little in suspicion, a little in worry. "Jeez, how old are you? Where's your mom? Dad?"

Rachel seems to shrink into her hoodie as she tries to get away. "J-just leave me alone."

"Ma'am, I have to ask you some questions," the officer continues. "There's blood on your clothes. Mind telling me about it?"

"It's nothing to worry about," she says, trying to move away from the cop.

The officer stands in front of her, stopping her from moving ahead. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me to the station."

Rachel grits her teeth as some black lightning with a white outline builds along her arms. Before she can move away, she notices the red SUV turning the corner again. Her eyes widen and she turns around and quickly enters the back seat of the police cruiser.

The officer looks at the car with an arched brow before shrugging and entering the car. He then begins the drive back to the station.

* * *

Rachel waits in the relatively empty lobby of the police station, now wearing new clothes courtesy of the officer after explaining herself. Now her eyes dart around at every person that moves around.

She looks at the cup of coffee in her hands and is lost in the dark color of the liquid. The sound of the gunshot, her mother's body falling, the swirling noise of the black and white pillar. Rachel's breathing gets heavier and heavier as she clenches the cup tightly.

"Excuse me?"

Rachel jumps and looks in front of her to see an Asian woman with short hair standing in front of her with a gentle smile. "Rachel, is it?"

"Uh, yeah?" She nods.

"You're dad's here to pick you up," the officer says.

Rachel blinks in confusion for a moment. "Wait, what? I don't have a dad."

The officer furrows her brow in confusion. "Huh, that's strange. Well, he called himself your dad, and he's insistent on meeting you."

Rachel gets up to follow the officer, but she stops, and her eyes widen as she makes a realization. "W-wait, this guy, is he big, white, and bald? Wearing a black suit and red tie?"

The officer turns around to look at her. "Yeah. Do you know him?"

Rachel drops the coffee cup and grasps the officer's arms. "You can't let him take me! He's the one who killed my Mom!"

The officer's eyes widen before she turns on her radio. "This is officer Lee, the man claiming to be the girl's father is her adoptive mother's killer," there's no response. "Hello? Anyone?"

Now that Rachel thinks about it, things are eerily quiet in the station.

She looks over the officer's shoulder to see something that shouldn't be there.

A few people, wearing red and black suits with cloaks and golden masks that covers most of their faces.

And in the center of that group is the man who killed Melissa.

Rachel's eyes widen in fear as she turns around and begins to run away. Officer Lee is confused for a moment, but then she's dead. A sword through her chest is the last thing she sees before falling over.

Rachel hurriedly runs out of the station and nearly bumps into a family before running away as fast as her legs can carry. Occasionally, she'd look back, the man just walks along the sidewalk, completely calm, his associates nowhere to be seen.

But then, Rachel sees a shadow moving on the sidewalk, looking up, she sees the weirdly dressed people running along the buildings.

"Shit!" She whispers before turning a corner. "Double shit!"

She's now trapped in an alley, the wall of a building at the other end.

"Well, as fun as this was, you need to come with me, girl. Now," the man demands as he enters the other side of the alley, his associates surround her.

Rachel looks around and feels her hands twitch. She looks down at them to see black energy swirling in her palms. She looks up at the man, his hands up in a placating gesture as he slowly walks forward.

"Now, now, let's not do anything we'd regret," he whispers. "If you come with us without a fuss, I promise we won't hurt you."

Rachel glares. "A little too late for that after you killed my adoptive mother!"

The man actually shrugs with a smirk. "She shouldn't have hidden you from us for so long."

One of the cultists jumps on Rachel's back and pins her down to the ground, holding her hands tight behind her back and he has one of his legs over hers, stopping her from thrashing. The man slowly walks forward and pulls a syringe out of his pocket, Rachel doubles her efforts.

"Stop moving!" the man barks. "If this goes in wrong you could die! And no one here wants that. Especially us."

Rachel stops and glares at the man, seething in anger as the image of Melissa falling comes to mind again.

She closes her eyes as he gets closer, and for some reason, she sees her school. Rachel feels a pull, and decides to go with it, after all, that place is better than here right now.

Rachel opens her eyes; they glow black with white spots of energy. The man and the cultists jump back in surprise, but the one on her back is unlucky.

A giant black raven with a white outline comes out of Rachel's back, and it envelops the two before imploding in on itself, leaving nothing behind.

The man sighs and puts the syringe in its case before giving it to a cultist.

"This got complicated."

* * *

A black raven appears in the sky above Rachel's high school. Its wings unfurl and it disappears, dropping the girl and the cultist from an extremely high height. As she falls, Rachel's hands shoot out, and a black beam of energy hits the roof just before she does, which pushes her up a little bit and stops her fall.

She lands on the roof of the school and groans in pain as she slowly gets up.

The cultist, on the other hand, lands hard on the school's roof, dying due to the fall.

After recovering from her moment of shock, Rachel stumbles away from the body, but in doing so she nearly slips from the blood on her fingers and right boot. Regaining her footing, she walks to the edge of the school, takes a deep breath, and leaps over, using the raised part of the roof to vault over.

Just before she hits the bushes over the rocks, she thinks about being light, and for a moment it works. Rachel floats a few feet above the bush before falling in, the branches scratch at her and the rocks dig into her skin.

But undeterred, she gets up and wipes the twigs and leaves off of her.

Rachel then looks around, finding no sign of the man or the cultists. Even if she can't see them, she doesn't lower her defense. She puts her hood up, looks in her wallet to see about fifty dollars in it, and nods.

"Okay, Rachel, time to test your survival skills," she whispers to herself before walking off.

* * *

**Metropolis**

**Donna**

I open my eyes and slowly sit up. I yawn loudly and stretch my arms up, and then I realize, I'm not in Gotham. I'm in Metropolis.

In the Kent's apartment. In Daichi's room.

I'm in his bed.

I can't help the blush on my face as I smile widely. Last night was definitely a night to remember. Lilith's gonna want all the details, and it's gonna be hard to not think about them today, I can tell.

I pat the bed next to me, and instead of feeling Daichi, I feel a sticky note. It reads, _"Making breakfast. Hurry, or I'll eat it all."_

I get out of bed and the room and head to the kitchen, here I find Daichi wearing some basketball shorts and a white and yellow tank top as he cooks some breakfast. I smile and walk up behind him, my hands around his waist as I put my face into the crook of his neck, kissing his neck as a greeting.

"Morning," he greets.

I grumble a greeting before resting my head on his shoulder and sniffing the air deeply. "That smells amazing, Dai. Is there anything you can't do?"

"Dance a tango?" he shrugs.

I laugh before moving to stand next to him, an arm still around his waist. "If I know you, you'll learn soon after one lesson. I mean, telepaths remember things easy, don't they? Lilith learned ancient Greek in a week."

"Speaking of…" he begins. "You're gonna tell her about last night, aren't you?"

"It's what girlfriends do, baby," I smirk. "Don't worry, I won't be mad if you tell Garth."

He shakes his head and smiles in amusement. "I'm not like that."

"No, you're not," I whisper fondly. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replies. The two of us then kiss for a while, but he eventually pulls back to flip the blueberry pancakes. "Y'know, I'm actually kind of glad you aren't a vegetarian like your sister, otherwise I'd have to be a little more creative."

This is my chance.

I lean in close and press the back of my body into his front, looking up at him with hooded eyes and a smirk. "Oh, don't worry, Daichi, you know I like my meat."

As expected, his eyes widen in surprise before his face becomes red. He stutters a bit and jumps back.

I hold back my laughter, but his constant stuttering and his arms moving about in a wild way don't help. I snort before breaking out in laughter, leaning back on the counter for support.

Through the tears, I can see Daichi slowly stop stuttering, he stares at me with a blank look, he just sighs and works on the breakfast again.

After calming down, I poke his side to get his attention, but he seems dead set on ignoring me. "If you keep ignoring me, I'll say worse."

He looks ahead blankly before slowly turning to look at me. "What?"

I peck him on the lips and grab my plate as the breakfast finishes cooking. "I love messing with you, that's all," I admit.

His serious face slowly breaks way for his smile. "I know. Come on, let's eat," he also telekinetically washes all of the dishes, which I think is so unfair, Diana's always on my back about cleaning dishes and doing my chores without my powers.

As we sit down and begin to eat, I think about what we should do for our next date. Maybe a carnival? Coast City's having one soon, I should ask Hal Jordan. Wait, but he's in deep space. Maybe I can ask Carol Ferris? Or maybe the beach at Amnesty Bay? It's considered one of the cleanest beaches in the world.

Then again, maybe he should meet Mother. Ever since she learned about our relationship, she's been wanting to meet him for some time. Though I hope it isn't like the time she wanted to meet Bruce, that almost got really bad a few times.

"Donna?"

My head perks up and I look at Daichi, already halfway done with his breakfast. "Oh, yeah?"

"You've been pretty deep in thought for the past few minutes," he says. "You okay?"

"Yeah!" I say as I begin to eat breakfast. "I'm just thinking about where to go for our next date. Well, I was at first. Mother wants to meet you."

He blinks in surprise a bit and has a thoughtful frown on his face as I watch him think it over. After a bit, he nods and smiles. "Yeah, I've heard so much about Hippolyta from Dick, Kory, Alfred, and your sister, I think it's time I met her."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and reach out to hold his hand. "That's great! I mean, she's been dying to meet you ever since I told her you asked me out all those months ago."

"Okay," he nods. He then becomes worried. "Where's the meeting going to be?"

I smirk and tilt my head. "What, scared of an island of beautiful women? Most men would jump at the chance to go to Themiscyra."

"Well, most men aren't dating one of their princesses. Who they happen to be overly defensive of," he replies.

"And how do you know this?" I ask.

"Bruce warned me during one of our training sessions. Told me a lot about what to do and what not to do when I ever go to Themiscyra," he answers.

I pout. "Well, that's no fun."

"You wanted me to anger your people?" He asks incredulously.

"I just wanted to see you stumble over your words a little," I admit. "It's cute when you do that."

"I- wha-? I'm not cute!" He stumbles over his words, looking cute.

"You're doing it now~" I say, my smile getting bigger.

Our phones both go off. I look at mine to see notifications from the group chat (which is why they both went off), and others from Dick, Kory, Bruce, and Diana.

Okay, this could be bad, this could be good, only one way to find out. I take a deep breath and click on Diana's name.

**Diana: **You're still in Metropolis, aren't you? Why?

The others ask relatively the same question.

One more deep breath before I text Diana back.

**Me:** I spent the night here. We can talk more later.

She replies instantly.

**Diana:** I see. ;)

Gods, I already regret everything.

I look up to see Daichi already in his Apex suit. "What's up?"

"The League has a mission for us," he answers. "You got your suit?"

"I left one in Gotham. I can change into the spare at the Tower," I answer before quickly finishing my breakfast.

**Me (Xena): **Dai and I are ready for teleport.

**The Gremlin: **Oooooh, you and Daichi?

I roll my eyes.

**Me (Xena): **Yes, Dick, me and Daichi.

**Space Dad:** Can we please get teleported?

**Surfer Dude:** On it.

Daichi and I look at each other and I just shrug. He sighs and shakes his head with a small smile as we're teleported away.

* * *

**Titans Tower**

We see Garth and Lilith, neither in their suits, at the other side of the teleporter. Lilith pulls me next to her and leans into my ear. "Details later," she whispers.

"Oh, Neptune, it's like last time, but the other way around," Garth groans.

The four of us enter the mission room to find the others (Dick, Roy, Wally, Zatanna, and Kory in their suits) as well as Dr. Fate, Zatara, Black Canary, and Batman waiting.

Wally chuckles and elbows Roy's side. "Would you look at that, I'm not the last one here for once."

Roy smirks. "Wow, what's next? Superman gets an immunity to kryptonite?" He and Daichi then nod in greeting.

That makes me happy, seeing them be friends again. Being the center of a love triangle can be annoying, and rage inducing. Very, very rage inducing.

Batman clears his throat to get our attention. "Now that you're all here, we can begin briefing."

A few holographic screens pop up, one shows a map of the US, a dot in Detroit, Michigan, another shows a news article detailing a murder, and the third shows two women, one in her forties and another around our age.

"Last night, a woman by the name of Melissa Wolfman was found murdered in her home, a gunshot to the back of the head," Batman begins briefing. Some of us look sick at that revelation, but Daichi, Roy, and Dick don't have any outward reactions. "But that's not the strange part."

A picture of what I can assume to be the home is shown, with half of it's destroyed, but in the destroyed half is a part of the floor, completely untouched, and big enough for an average height woman to lay on. There's some dried blood on the floor as well.

Zatara steps forward. "Last night, Zatanna and I had detected a powerful burst of magic, after conversing with Batman, we found out it was from this very home."

"So that's what that was," Garth whispers. "That thing woke me up from my sleep."

"Wait, what about the girl?" Wally asks.

Her school picture appears. "Rachel Roth aged fourteen. She goes to the local high school. Melissa Wolfman is her adoptive mother, and the girl's currently missing," Batman reveals.

"But that's not all," Black Canary says. An image of a police station then pops up, and there's crime scene tape around it, which is pretty ironic if you think about it. "At a local police station, many officers were found dead, all were either stabbed or poisoned. The cameras were able to pick this up."

An image pops up, this one shows members of the Cult of Blood, and a large, bald man in a black suit in the middle of them.

"The man is an unknown, but we have reason to believe he's hunting down Rachel. Some neighbors reported sightings of him near the neighborhood, and Rachel was taken to the station shortly before their arrival," Batman continues.

"So, the Cult of Blood wants her for her magic then?" Lilith asks.

"It's a possibility," Zatara nods. "But there has to be something we're not seeing. Why target her, a girl who's shown no sign of magic until now? I believe it has something to do with her blood. Which leads to our plan."

"Aqualad and Zatanna will travel with Dr. Fate and Zatara, figure out what you can about Rachel Roth's magic," Batman says. "The rest of you will go to Detroit, look for Rachel and apprehend the criminals. Now, the teleporters will be going down for maintenance, so take your Javelin. And be sure to report in when you gain new information. Understood?"

We nod. "Understood, Batman," Robin answers. "All right, team, let's go!"

The Leaguers nod and exit the mission room, leaving the ten of us there. I walk over to Aqualad and fist bump him before hugging Zatanna. "Have fun with your magical escapade, you two."

Zee lightly punches my shoulder. "And you guys capture that murdering asshole-"

"-And save Rachel," Aqualad finishes.

Omen kisses Aqualad and hugs Zatanna, followed by everyone else wishing them luck before the others put on their suits. After changing, the rest of us enter the hangar to find the Javelin already started up. We then enter the jet and Apex opens up the hangar.

As he begins the flight, a few holographic screens appear in front of Robin.

"Okay, looks like we've got a few places to look," he begins. "Melissa Wolfman worked as a nurse at one of the nearby hospitals. Rachel went to a local high school. And the neighbors had to have seen something."

"So, what's the plan?" Speedy asks.

"We'll need to split up into four duos," Apex strategizes. "Speedy and Omen, you'll be at the school, see what you can find out about Rachel Roth."

"Team Redhead!" Speedy shouts, the two high five.

"Kid Flash and Starfire, you'll be at the neighborhood. Ask questions, get to know more about the two," Apex continues.

"Team Redhead 2: Electric Boogaloo!" Kid Flash holds his hand out for a high five.

"I do not understand the reference, but I will high five regardless!" Starfire reciprocates.

"Wonder Girl and Bumblebee, you two go to the hospital. Maybe Ms. Wolfman's co-workers can tell you more about her."

"Team Badass is a go!" Bumblebee whoops.

"Hell yeah!" I agree.

"Why're they Team Badass?" Kid Flash grumbles.

"You chose Redhead 2: Electric Boogaloo," Robin points out.

"He is correct, you did," Starfire says before turning to Apex and Robin. "So, what about you two?"

"Robin and I will hunt down the man in the suit. He can tell us something, I know he can," Apex says.

"Team World's Finest Jr.!" Robin says before he and Apex high five.

And with that, everyone begins to converse with each other, I focus in Apex's direction and try to get his attention with mental calls. _"Hey, Daichi?"_

I feel him open a call. _"Yeah?"_ He asks.

"_There's something I have to tell you,"_ I reply. _"Lately, Dick's been a little irate. We're not exactly sure what about, but it's something that, if left alone, could get bad. Think you can help?"_

Apex looks at him from the corner of his eye. He's laughing at a joke Bumblebee said. _"Yeah, I promise."_

I smile and rest my head in my hand. _"Thanks, My Starman. I love you."_

I feel his confusion. _""My Starman"? What's that about?"_

"_A cute pet name. And no, I'm not changing it,"_ I state.

"_Well, guess I'll have to find one for you,"_ he replies.

I hum. _"Oooh, the anticipation's killing me."_

He just shakes his head in amusement, something he does a lot when I'm around, before focusing on flying the Javelin.

I can't wait to see what he has in store.

* * *

"Why the hell am I here with a living fossil like you?"

"Why the hell am _I _here with a faker like you?"

The first man to speak looks to be in his early forties. He's thin, with black hair and blue eyes, and a moustache, goatee combo. He wears a strange looking black suit, with three zigzagging lines on each side. From the chest up, his button up white shirt can be seen, as well as his white interior high collar. He also has a cape with a white interior and white gloves, in one hand is a black and white wand.

This is Abra Kadabra, a villain from the 64th Century, and a common enemy of the Flash.

The other man looks old, with his black hair turning white, as well as his long moustache that goes over his chin. He wears a navy-blue tunic with baggy black pants and a black shirt underneath the tunic. He has golden bracers on his forearms, a golden necklace that covers most of his chest, and a navy-blue headpiece, with a golden center.

This is Felix Faust, a powerful and ancient sorcerer and enemy of Zatara and Dr. Fate.

"Oh, please, you're just jealous," Kadabra taunts.

"Of what? Your lack of skill? Or maybe you're noxious bravado? Oh, yes, I'm quite jealous," Faust sarcastically replies.

"You know, in the 64th Century, no one knows who you are," Kadabra growls.

"You know, in the 21st Century, I don't care," Faust counters.

Kadabra growls and his wand activates, Faust replies with his magic circles appearing in front of his hands, ready to blast Kadabra with a powerful force spell that would send him flying.

Before the confrontation could continue, a cat hops onto the table. A cat with ginger fur and tiger stripes with red eyes, its ears in a special, devil horns shape.

"Now, now, let's not do anything rash, shall we?" The two turn to see Klarion walk into the room, an insufferable smirk on his face. "After all, Lord Trigon wants us to work together, not against each other."

That's enough to get Kadabra and Faust to back off.

"Good," Klarion claps his hands, a map of the US appears. "Now, the girl's somewhere here, in Detroit, Michigan, but there's a problem-"

"What kind?" Kadabra interrupts.

Klarion glares at him before turning back to the map. "Her magic activated, and boy, was it an activation. The explosion of energy no doubt alerted the Justice League. So, we can expect Zatara and Dr. Fate to be involved at least."

Faust clenches his fist and grits his teeth. "I've been waiting for so long to fight that damned magician again. Where is he?"

"We have no idea," Klarion answers.

"Okay," Kadabra hums as he rests his head in his folded hands. "What about the cult? If they're looking for the girl, why does Trigon also have us do this?"

"Because _Lord_ Trigon doesn't trust the humans entirely. Not even their leader, Brother Blood," Klarion replies. "But we are not to interfere with them. Directly. But that's not all," an image of the Teen Titans appears. "We have reason to believe the Teen Titans will be involved as well."

Kadabra scoffs. "They're children, there's no reason to be afraid of them."

Klarion smirks. "Kid Flash has defeated you seven times on his own, now imagine what a team of ten young heroes could do to you. In fact, they wouldn't even need to break a sweat, would they?"

Kadabra glowers and Faust chuckles, which has to the man from the 64th Century to glare at him. "What's so funny?"

"Just that you've been defeated by children, that's all," Faust replies.

"Don't even try it," Klarion says as he sees Kadabra go for his wand. He takes a deep breath and smiles again as the map disappears. "Now, unless you want what Trigon is offering, you two _will _work together. If not, then our deal will come to an end. Understood?"

Kadabra and Faust glare at each other before slowly turning to look at Klarion. "Understood," they both say.

Klarion grins widely. "Good. Then let us begin."

* * *

**And the Nevermore Arc is a go! This is an exciting arc to write, 'cause I get to introduce one of the more popular Titans characters out there. Now, Rachel's obviously pretty emotional now, which makes sense when you consider what she just went through on what should've been a normal day, but her personality will mellow out later. **

**But also, Klarion's back! In all honesty, this arc's really the Teen Titans vs the Cult of Blood vs the Dark Mage Alliance, all to get to Rachel first. But this arc will follow the Teen Titans, Aqualad, Zatanna, and their team (With three more additions introduced next chapter), and Rachel herself. **

**Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you two Saturdays from now, you beautiful people! **


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